Imagine a place where you could buy everything you want under one roof. Everything. Bananas, cameras, tools, bread, bed sheets, pants, diapers, toilet paper, bicycles, shoes, watches, auto tires, dishes, canned vegetables, underwear, gift wrap, blenders, bullets, dog food, umbrellas, eye glasses, breakfast cereal. Imagine aisles of products, at guaranteed low prices, tucked inside one huge building where acres of parking lots ensure your ability to stop and shop. It s slick, it s new, it s so you! Certainly, the business would provide jobs for the community and maybe even tax dollars for the lucky municipality that snags such a great commercial catch. Ah, nirvana and you thought there was no such thing as heaven on earth!

Now, imagine a run-of-the-mill town, Anytown, USA. You know a couple of small shops owned by people who live in the community. Maybe a grocery store, a pharmacy, a hardware store, jeweler, bike shop, restaurants all nestled along a downtown streetscape in walking distance to homes and schools. Probably there would be some parking lot for those out-of-town shoppers who can t find parking in front of the store they want to visit. The walk from parking lot to shop might even be shorter than at a mall. Most likely, the downtown shops would carry a mix of products to diversify their client draw. Aside from the owners and their families, they could hire local residents to help run the business. They might even know your name, ask about your kids or inquire how your mom is doing. How odd that each store might even have different display windows or carry locally produced goods. Isn t that quaint a farmers market with locally grown foods and, gosh, real dirt! How bucolic, almost boutique.

OK, now imagine that the big store moves just outside the small town, close enough to catch all the in-town shoppers but not within the actual borders of the town. Those smart corporate suits have found that many municipalities outside of a town don t have the bothersome zoning regulations that constrict business size and land use. Not to worry, this is just competitive capitalism at its finest. Let s call the giant store Wal-mart and give it the status of the largest retailer in the world.

What does the giant bring to town? Oh yes, those coveted jobs. Although some may thrill at their $9.68 per hour wage, Wal-mart pays far less than other big box stores (Costco pays an average of $16.00). Unionization is strictly forbidden and associates are promptly fired for even discussing the vile concept. Somehow, those coveted jobs have spawned some unhappy employees: more than 70 lawsuits have been filed against Wal-mart in the US, claiming violations of wage and hour laws, including forced, unpaid overtime. One Pennsylvania lawsuit was won by a woman from Reading, PA. Of course, Wal-mart has appealed the case. Also, while Wal-mart s CEO H. Lee Scott (who makes $8,434.00 per hour) told legislators in 2005 that, half a million of Wal-mart s associates receive health benefits through the company nationally, 68% of workers in large firms receive health benefits from their employers and Costco covers 82% of their workers. The coverage that Wal-mart offers tends to be expensive with high deductibles. Probably most appalling on the employee insurance and pay issue is the Instructions to Associates manual to Wal-mart workers, directing them in applying to public assistance programs. It seems that the largest employer in the world, with over 1.2 million associates, doesn t mind national health care as long as you are paying for it. Catch your breath those low, low prices are coming at the cost of your tax dollars paying for the health benefits of over a half million Wal-mart associates.

What about that ho-hum shop in town? Like most Americans, it seems that Mom and Pop are busy trying to pay for their health insurance. Many family owned businesses pay exorbitant rates, refusing to oust the aging founders of the business (insurance companies charge extra for old people) or trying to offer some coverage to their employees. Sadly, personal ownership of individual businesses affords independence at a cost.

Is everyone who works at a small business thrilled with their job? Probably not, but with a diverse economic base people are also free to pursue other career options. Economic variety benefits a community by creating economic strength in ever-shifting markets and flexibility for the future.

Does the giant bring safety and security to our communities? The strength of a corporate giant like Wal-mart has been the ability to drive down the price of items. When the giant was calling the shots on what it was willing to pay manufacturers for a product, many businesses left the USA for cheaper labor markets and lower safety and environmental standards. Our addiction to cheap finally hit home in the winter of 2007, when lead-tainted toys and unsafe products flooded the holiday shopping markets. Did we have a problem with lead-tainted toys when our manufacturers were located in the U.S.? No, because we had a history of hard fought union, labor and industry standards that guaranteed safe products, not low prices. We had a living wage that a family could survive on, which equated to higher prices. We had jobs. Unfortunately, the giant did not use their enormous clout to create a safer, healthier workplace or world. Now we have poisoned pet food and the inability to test our imported foods for product safety.

What about those boring local businesses, held to higher prices by regulation and product quality? A small business is unable to sell the volume of product that a mega-corporation can. Therefore they are unable to receive discounted wholesale prices from distributors, often losing distribution altogether. A small business fighting to survive is on a constant slippery slope, yet their determination to have a hand in choosing products that serve the community is of great value. Unfortunately, as more US manufacturers go out of business and the consumer is only looking for cheap, even local merchants are forced to buy their wares from overseas. Yet, a visit to the small community grocery stores, shops and farm stands, will often yield local products and foods. The hard-fought standards that America created for its workforce aren t dead yet, but it sure could use an infusion of dedicated, community-minded inventors and business entrepreneurs and a loyal buying public. Our job is to make our actions speak louder than our words, support our local businesses as often as possible and to become conscientious consumers.

What if you just love that giant – can t seem to get enough Goliath and the heck with silly, little David anyway? Those little shops are annoying and there s no parking. Studies have shown that for every 5 jobs Wal-mart brings to a community, within 5 years the community loses 7 jobs. Tax base is lost as businesses close and real estate value often suffers. The domino effect as businesses close is felt not only by the individual business owners and their employees, but also by their distributors, insurance and utility sales staff, suppliers, advertisers, restaurants and the endless products and people that are touched in a daily life. Where will the fire company, soccer team, high school year book, girl scouts, college scholarships and the ribbons of community donations that run beyond the town center turn to for support when those small businesses close? Will Bentonville, Arkansas, where the Wal-mart compound is, think of our community needs or answer the phone when we have a community celebration or tragedy? Finally, after our community no longer makes a profit for the Barons of Bentonville and the giant leaves, taking with it our only shopping option, where will we turn to feed our communities? The company store of the coal mining days held all the power, all the money and made all the rules – kind of scary to remember history. With the rising cost of fuel, does it really make sense to put all our economic eggs in one basket? We gave away our strength when we gave away our ability to take care of our communities, outsourcing jobs, utilities, fuels and our food source. We gave away our community when we fed the giant our individuality and our future to save a dime.

Americans love shopping and cheap, cheap, cheap. But our glut of consuming has put us on a collision course with our economic stability and environmental safety as we head for a cultural coronary. It s diet time. We have the ability and knowledge to create a healthy community for ourselves and the world we need only apply our determination and passion for the life we envision. Be a conscientious consumer. Check with local businesses first. Visit the farmers market and talk with the real people who grow our real food. Plan your trips to multi-task. Resist the big box if you can.