Shop Canadian Or Shop Thrift! A Warning To Retailers!

Darwinian Capitalism always seems to find new ways of amazing me as well as enrage me. Today it was announced that 700 Sears employees and 700 Bestbuy employees would be given termination notices and thus released from their positions. Not to mention that various Bestbuy and Futureshop stores would be closed down.

Before getting into anymore detail, I want to outline that yes...I understand how people may have their reservations about either Bestbuy or Sears and as a result both retailers are hurting. I also understand that many people have a preference in the places where they shop. However, I have had enough with the blatant ignorance that Canadians seem to live with regarding where we buy our stuff!!!!

Has anyone opened their eyes and noticed that not only are the majority of our shopping centres owned by American companies, but that almost everything...and I mean everything we buy today is either made in China or assembled there!?

The modern land of the free is run by ignorance and slavery!

I understand that the economy is still in a very fragile position as our politicians seem to stand by idly. However, the reality of the situation we as Canadians currently face, is that we are the ones to blame for our own misfortune. Another reality is that not everyone can become a doctor, lawyer or engineer and there are many people who once held middle class positions that are now forced into service oriented retail jobs against their will.

All of this would be semi-justified if these positions allowed for a decent wage and gave their employees the chance to grow and contribute to the economy, however the reality of this situation is simply the opposite.

This could one day be your daughter working for $1/day

The Chinese people are no longer citizens, they are employees of Commelist China, the Corporation Country

High end designer wear manufactured in the same factory as value Walmart brands, but you pay the premium because the name looks fancy and everything is good, right?

When you walk into a department store, you are often greeted by a friendly face, who is there to help you select your items and find them if they are unavailable. Currently, retailers seem content with cutting down those associates, whose job is to help, by stating that their employment is redundant.

I want you to think about that: How does an employer expect to improve the customer experience, when they constantly cut down their staffs hours and employment and thus decrease the number of people on the floor? More importantly, why would you shop at a retailer that treats its employees like this and are foreign to Canada just because their prices are a few cents cheaper?

WE NEED TO WAKE UP CANADA!

Our economy is not going to improve if we continue to allow our retail sector to be controlled by Americans, who want nothing more than to profit from our hard earned cash with cheap Chinese goods.

You need to open your eyes and understand that the average piece of clothing you buy has been marked up a few hundred percent and is probably being made for peanuts. What makes this worse is that many of us understand this practice, yet we continue to purchase these items and live in a shadow of ignorance. That is...until we or someone we know is left out of a job, because their company has decided that it is cheaper to move production to China or the United States.

The Americans are our allies, but their corporations are our worst enemy and we as Canadians have allowed them to invade our country and subject our people to humiliation.

While we welcome corporations like Target and Walmart to open their doors in our neighborhoods, we forget our fellow brothers and sister who struggle to maintain their jobs. We forget about the communities of Canadians who instead of pushed forward with new ways of manufacturing and more environmentally sustainable ways of improving factories, went out of business because our government allowed a take over by an American company or did not punish a company for outright leaving us for Chinese labour and mega profits. 

Now you might be asking what one can do to stop the problem? Where can you shop to avoid feeding the American machine? The answer to that is simple, you as the consumer need to take a stand and shop Canadian. Support Canadian retailers and if you want to really stick it to the Darwinian Capitalist...BUY THRIFT!

That is right! Take your hard earned cash and purchase a second hand item that was most likely made in a western country by union hands and does not contribute to Chinese slavery and the growing gap between the rich and poor. Support your local Value Village and while dressing yourself, indirectly contribute to helping charities that these thrift shops support!

THE NEXT TIME YOU ASK WHY THE INCOME GAP IS GROWING BETWEEN THE RICH AND POOR, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN YOUR WALMART, TARGET, SEARS AND AMERICAN OWNED COMPANIES!

YOU ARE MAKING THE RICH RICHER CANADA, YOU ARE MAKING THE POOR POORER, WHEN YOU STAND ASIDE AND LIVE IN IGNORANCE.

To end, if you have remained with me this far and think that I am just some biased NDP/Communist supporting political blogger, first...read my other blog entries and also understand that I currently work part-time at Sears Canada, mainly because I am a university graduate, who cannot find a full time job. So, I want you to know that I have seen what many choose to ignore and I have been treated by consumers in ways that people should not be treated.

As famously quoted in the movie La Vita Bella: "God serves man, but God is not a servant to man. You serve others, but you are not a servant to others." 

Remember this the next time your shopping somewhere and put your ignorance and arrogance aside and open your eyes!