Unexpectedly, America's largest (by sales) corporation, an employer of one million people, Wal—Mart, has become a major issue in domestic politics, as well as a cultural dividing line. Steven Malanga, writing in City Journal, does a superb job of delving into the deeper meaning of it all.

I do not regularly visit Wal—Mart stores, principally because the planning mandarins have kept them at some distance from the sacred soil of Berkeley. But when I travel the region's highways, I often stop in at their stores, to check out the DVDs for sale — which are often cheaper than anywhere else — and to experience the greeter's smile, and absorb the vibe of the crowds of shoppers, who appear to be rather happy to have access to such a fine selection of very reasonably—priced merchandise. Occasionally I buy a long—sought—after item, or a specially—attractive bargain.

Among Malanga's many excellent points is that Wal—Mart forces many other firms to innovate, and is thus a destabilizing force of creativity. Not just small shop—keepers, but also suppliers are forced to improve the efficiency of their operations by the competitive demands emanating from Bentonville, Arkansas. Responsible studies ahve concluded that as much as one quarter of the productivity improvement in the 1990's American economy was due to Wal—Mart—driven innovation. Eat your heart out, EU!

There is a word for people who resist beneficial change: "reactionaries."

One hundred million Americans regularly shop at Wal—Mart. It cannot be smart politics for Democrats like Kerry to align themselves with the unions and reactionary leftists who wish to deny them the opportunity to shop at that store. Unwittingly, the Demoleft are descending into a trap, in which their true identities as reactionaries will become clear to a very large swath of the electorate.

Posted by Thomas  04 10 04