A Not So Hidden Agenda

Goldman Sachs may have referred in their internal emails to their clients as “muppets”, but were we to see the internal emails of members of the Los Angeles City Council undoubtedly they would refer to their constituents as “fools.”

How else to explain the obvious contempt that members of the Los Angeles City Council have for the citizens of LA and our intelligence?

Today’s LA Times” title=”op/ed ” target=”_blank”>op/ed written last year in the Times by Michael Kinsley, former editor of The New Republic and former editorial page editor of the LA Times—hardly a right wing, anti-union propagandist: 

There are those whose objections to Wal-Mart are more aesthetic than economic: the barn-like quality of the stores, the impact of a Wal-Mart on old downtowns, even the whole culture of consumption that some people find distasteful. They’re welcome to those views as long as they acknowledge that higher prices at non-Wal-Mart stores are bad for consumers — especially poor consumers.

Wal-Mart’s employees seem as cheerful as those at Target or Costco. But perhaps the company has hypnotized them — or possibly me — in some sort of Stepford wives scenario.

Big companies make fat targets, but a more deserving target might be small companies. Instead, we have the ever-inflating myth of small business. Small businesses come and go, creating and eliminating jobs along the way. Yes, they are an important part of the economy, and often they come with inspiring tales of hard-working immigrants and so on. But they’re in it to make a profit, just like Wal-Mart. And I doubt that many offer healthcare to people working less than 24 hours a week.

We aren’t Muppets and we aren’t idiots and our electeds ought not treat us as such. If they have a problem with Wal-Mart because their union supporters do—admit it. If those concerns trump new jobs and enlivening a neighborhood that needs retail be honest about it. Don’t hide behind a façade of concern that is transparently dishonest.