When I was a little kid, I used to like that song “Little Boxes” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes just because it was simple and like something kindergarten kids would like- as a woman, I don’t like it. It makes fun of suburbia, it makes fun of the “American Dream” , and in doing this, in an insidious way, it makes fun of the life of many American White families – Here it is:
Malvina Reynolds “Little Boxes” (1962)
| 1. Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, Little boxes, little boxes, Little boxes, all the same. There’s a green one and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same.2. And the people in the houses All go to the university, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes, all the same. And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers And business executives, And they’re all made out of ticky-tacky And they all look just the same. 3. And they all play on the golf-course, And drink their Martini dry, And they all have pretty children, And the children go to school. And the children go to summer camp And then to the university, And they all get put in boxes And they all come out the same. 4. And the boys go into business, |
I haven’t written the parody of this, called “Big Boxes” about Walmart, but it wouldn’t be hard to do. There’s a lot more to be contemptuous of today than families who live in suburbia raising successful kids.
I don’t think we have Wal_Marts , we have “Target”, not sure if they are owned by the same company- was watching a documentary about them, about how they tell their employees to go get on welfare programs because they know they don’t pay enough for their workers to even afford to buy their health insurance monthly premiums. It was interesting to hear from a worker how when one employee starts talking about unions, they have people fly out to that store and usually the manager gets fired-
they also mention stuff about hiring illegals for this or that, and chronicles many small time business owners who had to close up shop when WM came to town. Anyway, it appears they treat their people like crap, pay them peanuts- it’s really more like one of those welfare-to-work deals than a real job where you can possibly get someplace. This is about people barely able to eke out an existence.
Holy hell it was pathetic, I even started to pity the various unWhite types. yeah , I must be a wuss now, I know. Even if some employees are going to scream “race discrimination” or “they hung a bike in the store! They called me Milk -boy !”(from a blue eyed high yella) – yeah sure some poeple who work there prob have some racial resentment- but here it is- just because someone makes a slur isn’t good enough to be considered “pro_white” , WN, or N/S, etc…
If the place sucks , it’s going to suck for all the people there- it’s a new kind of plantation, and whites are in their field (aisles) as well as everyone else- What I am saying is, is just because you watch the documentary and see a black or whatever play the race card or whine about how they didn’t get promoted, don’t jump the gun and think this means “WM is on our side, WM is WN” . I highly doubt that. That’s what I mean about someone says a certain word, and people automatically “let them in”, they get this knee-jerk affiliation because WNs don’t usually find people willing to express racial views of any kind, so in this isolation , we miss the other things about these random people that don’t have anything to do with the rest of how we perceive Whiet culture. These guys who had the small businesses, who spoke about their dedication to their family buisness, who took care of their people, they may not be “WN” , they may not use this or that word, but they epitomize the old White way, a part of old America that people are going to miss- shopkeepers who treat people well, whose help can help you.
The big box may be enjoying its day in the sun, but as society becomes even more stratified, and those big boxes more and more become “undesireable shopping experiences” (you know, what with the loud music, the screaming unsupervised kids, carts with old food and drink in them, when you can get a cart, the constant din of non-English babble, the clerks who can barely understand how to ring a sale, let alone handle anything not on the main menu, and forget about asking anyone where stuff is on the flooror questions about the merchandise) as this becomes worse at each big box store, (White) people will start avoiding them, even if it means they have to pay more. We already are. That will trigger the death knell of these places as we all know, without at least a few Whites really into their work, (you know the type, like over-zealous mall security), without them, the place turns into a shoplifting paradise because of the utter chaos, not to mention a day care, homeless shelter in the eating areas- this happened to a K_mart not far from here. The Whites simply stopped going there , it got so bad with the ghetto atmosphere. Now it’s a Kohls, which I have never set foot in.
If you don’t have to shop there, don’t. you probably don’t even realize how little you need from those places. There is no law that just because you saw some ding-dong on TV make some little wonder-garden or ‘room-makeover’ , that you have to go out and copy-cat them. People can be terrible copycats, even when they don’t mean to. They just think, “wow , that lady on TV sure made it sound good, I should do that” or ” that looks really great on her, I should buy that dress” , ” that guy sure sounds smart, I should buy his book”. No, you don’t have to. Stop yourself . Think whether whatever it is you are itching to go buy is really that relevant to your life, is it worth the trip? I bet it isn’t. Think for yourself. Come up with your own ideas , non TV inspired. No it’s not entertaining just turning stuff over and over in your head, it’s just you , alone with your brain, thinking about stuff. That IS the entertainment. If you can do this, feel privileged- hey not everyone has the mental firepower to even attempt this at home.
Back to Wal-Mart and how it sucks (and really , any big box prob sucks).
You really see how these little businesses, usually White old dudes, they are talking about how they took care of their employees, the employees were recounting how neat it was to work for the small guy, how it was like a family- The contrast was so stark between the old , White idea of work and how the worker was like an extension of the employer- no more with these big box stores- You see some of this in this clip. Anyway, there’s lots of big corporate assholes I don’t like, but I never gave WM much thought, but now I see it is beyond the fact they don’t pay well, or take care of their employees health care, raking in billions as they are- and the hiring the beaners under the table, sure it is those things too, but when I see the small guy, what we are trading for the big box, it is what the big box represents I am against as much as if not moreso than their shoddy treatment of its workers (it honestly looked worse to work there than be unemployed) . It represents the same crap as the throw your kids in daycare, build one huge middle school for all the kids in town, build one big live/work “mixed use” condo-behemoth new urbanism caca, the communist “we all fit into ‘this’ mold” , we all shop “here” , we all do “this ” or “that” , we all want this lawn gazebo , Big Box shopping as a weekend family activity (“Let’s go buy 2000 rolls of TP, it’s on sale! Whee!” ) the “herding ” of us- the “big boxing ” of our fucking lives. I don’t like it.
The Spoils of War 