Musings
Hello there. This week's column is on Wal-Mart. More specifically, the proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter for Fairfield. The City Council has given no indication of how they will vote and I want to keep the pressure on.
In any debate about Wal-Mart, there's always talk of traffic, pollution, noise and the crushing effect it will have on other businesses. This effect on other businesses we used to call capitalism and the marketplace, but now we want to artificially protect mom and pop stores from competition. Look, I get it. I used to rent movies from a nice little video rental store called Popcorn Video. It was great. They didn't used computers to track movies. If you were late with a movie, half the time they didn't charge you anything (unless someone wanted the movie). A Hollywood Video moved in across the street and Popcorn Video couldn't compete. I miss that little store but do I hate the bigger selection offered by Hollywood Video? No.
I know Wal-Mart is a ruthless global corporation that works Asian fetuses' tiny underdeveloped fingers to the bone for pennies a day so us fat Americans can buy cheap goods. I know they're probably one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. I understand all that. But I also understand low prices. I understand making ends meet in an era of unpredictable gas prices, and runaway prescription drug prices.
I wish Wal-Mart were unionized with full benefits and only bought goods made in America and didn't drive mom and pop stores out of business and could still over low prices. But we don't live in Fantasyland.
Reading past this week's column, you'll see something I wrote on the N word and the attempt by Jesse Jackson and others to curb it's usage.
I can still remember my dad coming in from a hard day at work and then going out back and working in his garden for two hours. He'd come in, plop down on the couch and say, "Whew! I worked like a nigga today." My brothers and I thought nothing of it.
To this day, my brothers and I use the word "nigga" among ourselves.
It might be difficult to explain to a white person why the word "nigga" from a black person doesn't carry the sting of a white person saying "nigger". I think one of the obvious things is "nigger" is loaded with hate and a vile history. "Nigga" carries a different connotation. "Nigger" makes the hair on the back of my neck rise.
Note I said my brothers and I use the word "nigga" among ourselves. I wouldn't dream of using it publicly. It's as though people have forgotten or never were taught that there's a time and place for everything. i wouldn't walk into Chuck E. Cheese and throw the F word around. I think it's a matter of common sense and respect.
The N word debate will continue. Some feel that no variation of the word should ever be used. Some blacks feel it's internalizing our oppression. Others feel that we've taken a vile word and changed it into something brotherly. There are those who think that you shouldn't even use the word in discussing the word. That's why we have "the N word" instead of "nigger". If you recall some years ago, a white politician got into trouble for using the word "niggardly", I guess because it sounded too much like nigger. (That's political correctness run amok.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's offerings.
In any debate about Wal-Mart, there's always talk of traffic, pollution, noise and the crushing effect it will have on other businesses. This effect on other businesses we used to call capitalism and the marketplace, but now we want to artificially protect mom and pop stores from competition. Look, I get it. I used to rent movies from a nice little video rental store called Popcorn Video. It was great. They didn't used computers to track movies. If you were late with a movie, half the time they didn't charge you anything (unless someone wanted the movie). A Hollywood Video moved in across the street and Popcorn Video couldn't compete. I miss that little store but do I hate the bigger selection offered by Hollywood Video? No.
I know Wal-Mart is a ruthless global corporation that works Asian fetuses' tiny underdeveloped fingers to the bone for pennies a day so us fat Americans can buy cheap goods. I know they're probably one of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. I understand all that. But I also understand low prices. I understand making ends meet in an era of unpredictable gas prices, and runaway prescription drug prices.
I wish Wal-Mart were unionized with full benefits and only bought goods made in America and didn't drive mom and pop stores out of business and could still over low prices. But we don't live in Fantasyland.
Reading past this week's column, you'll see something I wrote on the N word and the attempt by Jesse Jackson and others to curb it's usage.
I can still remember my dad coming in from a hard day at work and then going out back and working in his garden for two hours. He'd come in, plop down on the couch and say, "Whew! I worked like a nigga today." My brothers and I thought nothing of it.
To this day, my brothers and I use the word "nigga" among ourselves.
It might be difficult to explain to a white person why the word "nigga" from a black person doesn't carry the sting of a white person saying "nigger". I think one of the obvious things is "nigger" is loaded with hate and a vile history. "Nigga" carries a different connotation. "Nigger" makes the hair on the back of my neck rise.
Note I said my brothers and I use the word "nigga" among ourselves. I wouldn't dream of using it publicly. It's as though people have forgotten or never were taught that there's a time and place for everything. i wouldn't walk into Chuck E. Cheese and throw the F word around. I think it's a matter of common sense and respect.
The N word debate will continue. Some feel that no variation of the word should ever be used. Some blacks feel it's internalizing our oppression. Others feel that we've taken a vile word and changed it into something brotherly. There are those who think that you shouldn't even use the word in discussing the word. That's why we have "the N word" instead of "nigger". If you recall some years ago, a white politician got into trouble for using the word "niggardly", I guess because it sounded too much like nigger. (That's political correctness run amok.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's offerings.
Comments