Liberalism as Condescension

RealClearPolitics.com ^ | September 14, 2006 | By George Will

[.cnI redruM]

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. -- This suburb, contiguous with Chicago's western edge, is 88 percent white. A large majority of the customers of the Wal-Mart that sits here, less than a block outside Chicago, are from the city and more than 90 percent of the store's customers are African-American.

One of whom, a woman pushing a shopping cart with a stoical 3-year-old along for the ride, has a chip on her shoulder about the size of this 141,000 square- foot Wal-Mart. She applied for a job when the store opened in January and was turned down because, she said, the person doing the hiring "had an attitude.'' So why is the woman shopping here anyway? She looks at the questioner as though he is dimwitted and directs his attention to the low prices of the DVDs on the rack next to her.

Sensibly, she compartmentalizes her moods and her money. Besides, she should not brood. She had lots of company in not being hired: More than 25,000 people applied for the 325 openings.

Which vexes liberals like John Kerry. (He and his helpmeet last shopped at Wal-Mart when?) In 2004 he tested what has become one of the Democrats' 2006 themes: Wal-Mart is, he said, "disgraceful'' and symbolic of "what's wrong with America.'' By now, Democrats have succeeded, to their embarrassment (if they are susceptible to that), in making the basic numbers familiar:

The median household income of Wal-Mart shoppers is under $40,000. Wal-Mart, the most prodigious job-creator in the history of the private sector in this galaxy, has almost as many employees (1.3 million) as the U.S. military has uniformed personnel. A McKinsey company study concluded that Wal-Mart accounted for 13 percent of the nation's productivity gains in the second half of the 1990s, which probably made Wal-Mart about as important as the Federal Reserve in holding down inflation. By lowering consumer prices, Wal-Mart costs about 50 retail jobs among competitors for every 100 jobs Wal-Mart creates. Wal-Mart and its effects save shoppers more than $200 billion a year, dwarfing such government programs as food stamps ($28.6 billion) and the earned-income tax credit ($34.6 billion).

People who buy their groceries from Wal-Mart -- it has one-fifth of the nation's grocery business -- save at least 17 percent. But because unions are strong in many grocery stores trying to compete with Wal-Mart, unions are yanking on the Democratic Party's leash, demanding laws to force Wal-Mart to pay wages and benefits higher than those that already are high enough to attract 77 times more applicants than there were jobs at this store.

The big-hearted progressives on Chicago's City Council, evidently unconcerned that the city gets zero sales tax revenues from a half a billion dollars that Chicago residents spend in the 42 suburban Wal-Marts, have passed a bill that, by dictating wages and benefits, would keep Wal-Marts from locating in the city. Richard Daley, a bread-and-butter Democrat, used his first veto in 17 years as mayor to swat it away.

Liberals think their campaign against Wal-Mart is a way of introducing the subject of class into America's political argument, and they are more correct than they understand. Their campaign is liberalism as condescension. It is a philosophic repugnance toward markets because consumer sovereignty results in the masses making messes. Liberals, aghast, see the choices Americans make with their dollars and their ballots, and announce -- yes, announce -- that Americans are sorely in need of more supervision by ... liberals.

Before they went on their bender of indignation about Wal-Mart (customers per week: 127 million), liberals had drummed McDonald's (customers per week: 175 million) out of civilized society because it is making us fat, or something. So, what next? Which preferences of ordinary Americans will liberals, in their role as national scolds, next disapprove? Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?

No. The current issue of The American Prospect, an impeccably progressive magazine, carries a full-page advertisement denouncing something responsible for "lies, deception, immorality, corruption, and widespread labor, human rights and environmental abuses'' and of having brought "great hardship and despair to people and communities throughout the world.''

What is this focus of evil in the modern world? North Korea? The Bush administration? Fox News Channel? No, it is Coca-Cola (number of servings to Americans of the company's products each week: 2.5 billion).

When liberals' presidential nominees consistently fail to carry Kansas, liberals do not rush to read a book titled "What's the Matter With Liberals' Nominees?'' No, the book they turned into a best-seller is titled "What's the Matter With Kansas?'' Notice a pattern here?

[Tax-chick]

Or else we might experience catastrophically higher employment.

Can't have that ... people who work and pay taxes tend to stop voting Democrat, eventually.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>Liberals complain that oil companies polute too much and don't produce enough gasoline (i.e., they charge too much for gasoline).

Uhmmm, not lately. They kind of want the recent supply glut on the gas market to catch fire and burn up before a certain morning in November.

[mvpel]

The "attitude" that she was complaining about was one that expected her to present herself professionally and graciously, and expected her to put in a full day's work for a full day's pay.

[Tax-chick]

It wouldn't surprise me a bit!

[Gabz]

WalMart Ping!!!!!!!!

[Excellence]

"Only a jackass would trash Wal-Mart, and then ask its customers and employees for their vote."

[metesky]

1) Wal-Mart costs about 50 retail jobs among competitors for every 100 jobs Wal-Mart creates.

Still +50 no matter how you cut it.

The smart Mom and Pop store owner would throw in with Wally, get in as middle management, thereby getting (maybe) more money, more leisure and without the responsibility of ownership (paper work, employees, etc.)

2) Wal-Mart and its effects save shoppers more than $200 billion a year, dwarfing such government programs as food stamps ($28.6 billion) and the earned-income tax credit ($34.6 billion).

Yes, brother! To the libs that's $200 billion that got away.

[upchuck]

Wal*Mart is pure evil!!

How can I prove that?

Simple.

The very first time I walked into a Wal*Mart, which was a long time ago, that evil capitalist empire cast a demonic spell on me.

I suddenly found myself unable to enter other stores like K-Mart, Target, Sears, etc. It was like some kind of voodoo curse. As soon as I'd pull in the parking lot I'd hear these voices in my head repeating this mantra over and over, "Waaallly, Waaallly, save money, Waaallly, Waaallly." 'bout scared the begeebebers outta me!

And it continues to this day.

Occasionally this hex will let me visit Lowes or Home Depot, but only to buy stuff not sold by Wal*Mart.

This horrible affliction just about drives me crazy.

And I don't want to get into groceries!

I called the local exorcist about getting rid of this curse. As soon as I described it she said, "Oh, that's a bad one. Sorry, but that's a very, very powerful curse and we don't have a solution. But we're working on it."

HELP!

[Gabz]

The smart Mom and Pop store owner would throw in with Wally, get in as middle management, thereby getting (maybe) more money, more leisure and without the responsibility of ownership (paper work, employees, etc.)

The manager of the paint department of the local WM is a retired hardware store owner...the man is an absolute gem.

[Tax-chick]

Truly a sad story.

[Gabz]

ROFL!!!!!

My similar affliction has eased a bit in the past 3 years.......since we moved to an area that has no K-Mart, Target, etc..........although we did just recently get a Lowe's :)

[Piranha]

Of course liberalism is condescension. Every movement that has a vanguard or elitist group at the top has contempt for the others. A belief system that relies on the courts over the democratic process (on Tavis Smiley's NPR show this past weekend one guest actually accused conservatives of "doing an end run around the courts by appealing directly to the [electorate].") does not trust the voters, who are the people.

In my opinion, this is the reason for liberalism's fascistic tendencies. They think that they are descended from the French Revolution, but they are descended from the brutal coerciveness of Robespierre.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Well, they may not have attacked baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie, but Tom Friedman sure is running a jihad against Chevrolet and General Motors on the op-ed page of the New York Times. How dare GM continue to sell those gas-guzzling SUVs that those dumb red-state Americans keep wanting?!?! We need liberals to tell Americans what kind of cars to drive, where to buy their groceries, and what kind of mortgage loans are "suitable" for them.

[.cnI redruM]

>>>>>We need liberals to tell Americans what kind of cars to drive, where to buy their groceries, and what kind of mortgage loans are "suitable" for them.

Like we need foreign policy advice from Dhimmi Carter.

[bwteim]

Rush is reading this article now 12:36 cst.

[.cnI redruM]

It nails them in the forehead.

[Graybeard58]

And got a 12 pack of imported beer for $2 less than at the local grocery store.

But you are supposed to be buying American made imported beer!

[Graybeard58]

Says everything that needs to be said about this woman, I think.

My wife works for W-M and a few years back she was working at a hiring center for a new store, she tells me that the most common reason for not hiring someone was that many people wanted to set their own working hours - no week ends etc.

[Graybeard58]

Even when I lived in one of those neighborhoods and paid higher or drove out of town.

The city near where I live has no major grocery store in one area of town and hasn't had in about 20 years. The residents are yammering about their neighborhood being "red lined" but I remember what happened at the last store that was there. They had reached the point where they had to have an armed guard and they closed the store shortly after he was murdered.

Who in their right mind would put a store there?