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Originally Posted by Ustwo
In the 30's and 40's people complained that 'chain stores' were destroying American business, now its 'corporations' with Wal-Mart being the bugaboo dejour.
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I think there is a difference between a large corporation and a small corporation. And all corporations want to become as big as they can.
I like the idea of franchising, but limiting the number of stores one person can own.
Car dealerships are for the most part regionally owned, towing companies, and bike shops are usually locally owned too (I just had to use both services). Plumbers, carpenters and electricians are usually part small companies (mostly union, though it doesn't matter to me, it just prevents them from undercutting the price until 1/2 of them can't get by on the wages they make, and the other half have to cut so many corners that the work suffers)
Would they become evil if Wal-Mart (or Home Depot/Lowe's) hired every plumber in America so you had to go to them? Or would we complain about the 20% of the bill that we pay to the Walton family when we have to hire them. They might not be evil or even had the intention of Wal-Mart taking off like it has. But I'd bet that life would be better without Wal-Mart (or K-Mart, JC Penny or Sears before them).
Large corporations are more efficient, but they also make every part of America the same, with the same big box stores and the same types of jobs. Why would you go to school for 13-14 years to learn how to stock shelves and run a cash register? It also makes an elite upper class made up of the people who run the corporations and everybody else down below (with 1/400th the salary). It's either work for a corporation, get less money and work for a non-profit, or not work at all. Most people will take the job at the corporation over unemployment. Then they will dream of one day becoming a CEO of a oil company.
