Weird vs. Wealthy

Here's an interesting blog post on why people should shop local:

And my response:

I agree with your post in some respects and disagree in others.

I do think that local buisnesses are an important part of what makes Austin unique. Even though i moved here from San Diego a few years ago, i can tell you with certainty that there are no Book People in San Diego. (excuse the pun :)) There is no Salt Lick, no Epochs, no Thundercloud Subs, and no Hula Hut. Local buisnesses are part of what makes Austin different than other cities. (and let me tell you, I miss Ichi-ban from San Diego, too).

That being said...i don't think all big buisness is the enemy. I will concede (easily) that Wal-mart is the posterchild for irresponsible buisness. But what about buisnesses like Costco? Starbucks? Dell? These are companies that are just trying to make a buck; they care about their employees. Costco has the best medical benefits in the retail industry; the company pays for 95% of the costs. It's average wage is also around $17. Is this far less than local buisness? Also, Starbucks has a few things going for it: 1) it's consistency. Whenever you order something in one starbucks, it almost always tastes like the exact same drink in the Starbucks across town. 2) it's cleaner. Epoch is a neat place to hang, but i don't get the same feeling of cleanliness (though you may call it sterility-different strokes, i suppose) than i do at Starbucks.
I do agree that retail jobs pay less than manufacturing, though i don't know if that can entirely attributed to big corporations. It's probably more the fault of the American consumer wanting more junk for cheap. (and if you go to jibjab.com, they do a pretty interesting take on that-all in song, of course) I will say that it is difficult to find anything that is made in the USA anymore-it's all in Korea, Tawain, or China.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that, while some corporations are as bad as you think they are, others aren't. And also, people have a choice whether or not to shop at Barnes and Noble or Book People; personally, i choose whichever has a bigger manga section (which, if the section at Barnes and Noble is any clue, is probably Book People). People have a choice of whether or not to support local buisness or not, and it's up to those buisnesses to give their customers something they can't get at a chain: whether it be friendly service (you'd be suprised at how "happy" some of those people at Wal-Mart can be...yeah right), knowledge about their product, or a superior product, there has to be a reason for someone to shop there-not just because it's a local buisness.