Session E-4 - Chain Stores are Killing our Economy

Why do we continue to shop at and support the large franchises that have homogenized communities all across Canada, and close local establishments distinct to each community? We must realize that any profits are not invested locally, but carried away to hands in distant lands.

Each trip to Tim Hortons encourages the closure of a local coffee shop. Chapters has put most of the independent bookstores out of business. The Home Depot has exterminated local hardware stores, Staples has anhilated the local print shops, and Shoppers Drug Mart has replaced local pharmacies. What about the bakers, local markets and butchers? On the endangered list.

The list continues, and at the pinnacle sits Walmart, the community buster.

As we lineup to gain bargains made afar, serviced by employees making minimum wage, it's natural that the economy is hurting. Minimum wages are paid, profits are not re-invested in the community, and most importantly, virtually every product is imported.

Pause for thought.... What IS manufactured locally anymore besides raw materials and a few commodities? Not much. Until recently, some auto parts...

Although conventional thinking may be changing, the status quo is still a disposable society with a fast food mentality. Litter, waste and unhealthiness abound.

Cheap products satisfy the needs as society weakens. Not everyone can spend the day in front of a computer screen. Real, tangible, value-added skills are needed in the workforce, and a re-birth of community support for local goods.

Solutions include:

- Buy less - repair 

- Support "fair trade" not "free trade"

- Buy local, even if it costs a little bit more.

- Re-skill and re-tool for a sustainable future

- Relearn the values and principals that guided our elders and mentors

- Ban drive-throughs and box stores

- Focus away from self and more on building community

Thought for the day

Interesting that althought equipped with countless technological gadgets, the key element of community is understanding and respect for eachother. With this collective awareness, resilience and capacity can exist. It starts with each decision made, and each action taken.

Challenge: Skip the major franchises and support the local enterprise whenever possible. In the long run, it's the only path to trod. Every action is a vote for tomorrow.