[Vision2020] Wal-Mart cause and effect

[Jeff Harkins]

At last, Ms Opyr gets it - or at least part of 
it. The point being made in my previous post is 
that Walmart has little or no impact on those 
businesses prepared to compete.  A local economy 
is a complex entity.  Our local economy survived 
the existing WalMart store and will survive the 
new WalMart store.  Some businesses found a 
symbiotic relationship to build off of WalMart's 
presence here.  Some became challenged by the 
competition and lost.  Some came and some went 
for a variety of reasons.  By the way, Ernst 
entered bankruptcy because of fractured business 
processes across their system (the local store did ok).

But at the end of the day, WalMart is one of the 
largest profit making employers in the County - 
because it satisfies their customers' 
demands.  No one is expecting Ms. Opyr to shop 
there and I am certainly not trying to persuade 
her to "give it a go".  The myopic (and selfish) 
view she is trying to argue is that because she 
doesn't want to shop at the store in Moscow, 
everyone else should be denied the opportunity to 
shop there - the old "greatest good for the 
fewest number" shuffle.  This is very much like 
the old "less is more" argument - in this case, 
less choice for you and more cost for you.

I won't use tawdry sexual references to entice 
you to a position - there is enough of that on 
network tv.  This is a debate about choice and 
who should or should not determine your 
consumption decisions.  I think it is pretty 
clear where I stand.  Let WalMart, an existing 
business, expand their operations with additional 
investment so that our local consumption choices 
get the benefit of their product lines at 
reasonable prices.  Let competition work - because it works.

At 07:27 PM 11/16/2005, you wrote:
>Jeff Harkins, in his list of businesses that 
>have opened in Moscow since the arrival of 
>Wal-Mart, makes the most common of logical 
>errors, i.e., post hoc, ergo propter hoc, 
>meaning because of ABC, XYZ happened.  I'll give 
>you another example of this logical fallacy: all 
>of the businesses that Jeff cites have opened 
>since Melynda and I moved to Moscow.  Therefore, 
>lesbians are good for business!  If it weren't 
>for sodomy, you straight folk wouldn't now be 
>shopping at Winco, Staples, or the fabulous 
>expanded Tri-State.  Just for the record, 
>Tri-State is *the* store of choice for lesbian 
>fashionistas! That's where we all get of our guns, knives, and prom attire.
>
>Here's a question: what Moscow businesses have 
>closed since the existing Wal-Mart 
>opened?  K-Mart.  Tidyman's.  Ken's 
>Stationery.  The Beanery.  Creighton's.  The 
>Main Street Deli.  The Nobby.  The 
>Spudnik.  Myklebust's.  Karen's Ice Cream.  The 
>Army Navy Store.  The Emporium.  The JC 
>Penney's.  Ernst Hardware.  The Chevron on the 
>corner of Third and Jackson.  Is Wal-Mart to 
>blame for all or any of these?  I don't 
>know.  And who -- apart from Jeff Harkins -- is 
>willing to make a post hoc, ergo propter hoc 
>argument regarding these closures?
>
>I'd be willing to argue that Ernst is a direct 
>casualty of Wal-Mart, but I'd use another 
>rationale for my analysis: proximity.  The study 
>I forwarded to the list earlier suggests that 
>proximity to a Wal-Mart has a direct effect in 
>terms of both benefit and detriment. Restaurants 
>near Wal-Marts often see an increase in 
>business; hardware stores, on the other hand, go tits up.
>
>Jeff asserts that hard data should win this 
>argument.  Well, there's an old saying among 
>accountants: figures lie, and liars figure.  We 
>don't need a Wal-Mart Supercenter period, but we 
>sure as hell don't need one across from the 
>Moscow Cemetery.  What a disgusting, tacky, trashy prospect.
>
>Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
>www.joanopyr.com
><br>
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