All comments posted by users on the Greater Greater Washington post "Future at-large member will sit on important committees" http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/ en-us http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81572 People shop at Wal-Mart because they like Wal-Mart; nobody forces them to do it. Don&#39;t blame Harry Thomas for giving his constituents what they want. <p>Half the concerns that are typically raised about Wal-Marts is that they often open up in the suburbs or exurbs and have an enormous spatial footprint (and then close their doors in a few years, leaving a giant empty box and acres of untended asphalt). The thing is, Wal-Mart in this case is setting up shop *in the city.* So at least that concern is quieted here. Smart growth it is, or at least smarter than opening shop outside the city.</p> <p>People are desperate for jobs, and Wal-Mart can give them some. God knows there aren&#39;t bunches of cutesy mom-and-pops opening up to hire our residents. Many of our residents just don&#39;t have a lot to offer to an employer, and they aren&#39;t willing or able to become employers themselves. The government can&#39;t afford to put them to work directly (okay, fair enough: we should stop handing out tax exemptions with such recklessness, yes, but the point still holds), so who the heck other than Wal-Mart is going to ride in on a white horse and start hiring poor, undereducated DC residents? I mean, really? There&#39;s just no other demand for their services.</p> <p>It&#39;s not hard to work at Wal-Mart, and a lot of people are willing to do it. That&#39;s why Wal-Mart&#39;s model works, to the extent that it does work. It&#39;s very easy to hate on Wal-Mart, but unfortunately, people are the problem. We aren&#39;t willing to unionize or boycott to the extent necessary to turn political action into the economic force it needs to become in order to matter.</p> <p>If you want to fight Wal-Mart, go convince people that they shouldn&#39;t work or shop there. But good luck.</p> http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81572 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 10:41:18 EDT http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81544 Anyone else concerned about Harry Thomas, Jr. - who seems to think that Wal-Mart is the answer to creating jobs and revitalizing neighborhoods - being chair of Economic Development? http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81544 Fri, 24 Dec 2010 15:53:06 EDT http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81438 I&#39;d run, except: <p>1 - I fall short on the 1-yr residency requirement.<br> 2 - I have crazy heretical ideas, such as espousing that German Shepherds come from Holland.<br> 3 - No one knows who I am.</p> http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/8620/future-at-large-member-will-sit-on-important-committees/#comment-81438 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 23:56:32 EDT