I remember Walton’s store back in the 1950s. When he started Wal-Mart, he broke the economic stranglehold of the CHICKEN MEN who paid starvation wages well below minimum as they were “Agricultural”.
Poor people lived in run down shotgun shacks and tar paper shacks, and many houses did not have indoor plumbing. We had CULTURE SHOCK with the backwardness here when we were dragged as kids kicking and screaming from our home in the Rocky Mountains.
Now NW Arkansas is a powerhouse of economic growth in the state. Without Walmart, this would just be another poverty ridden state with people fleeing to Oklahoma for good jobs.
why am I here? I found a great job starting up a new coal fired power plant with super wages and benefits.
I had culture shock when we moved here from Atlanta 8 years ago. I could load my groceries with my babies in the car and NO FEAR of carjacking! Talk about liberating!!! I would leave my doors unlocked just for the sheer freedom of it, knowing I was now in one of the last patches of untarnished Christian America.
Now...not so sure how long that’s going to last. Old Alice seems hell bent on “enriching” us with the values of the coastal elites. First bringing in the art world and then the Gina Davis Bentonville film fest (”BFF - Include.” as if that isn’t a glaring red flag). Now I’ve noticed on Facebook there’s a small group working on a Rogers Pride event.
It was beautiful while it lasted.