The company store
In small towns across America, there has often been what's referred to as "the company store." You would find these in communities dominated economically by one employer. "The company store" is the basic source of all goods and supplies-- hardware, groceries, etc.-- and it's owned by the major employer.This is referred to as the "truck system." The boss pays out wages for the days' or weeks' labor, and then the employees and their families give that money right back to him at the store in exchange for their various necessities. Often, employees will be paid in company "scrip," usable only at the store, and by design, the employees and their families become further indebted to, and dependent upon, their employer under this system. Tennessee Ernie Ford memorialized this concept of economic exploitation with his 1955 hit tune "Sixteen Tons," when he lamented having to tell Saint Peter at the heavenly gates that he "owes his soul to the company store." Remember that one?
Have company stores gone away? Not by a long shot. In fact, it's quite the opposite. They went national. It's called Walmart. The Survey of Consumer Finances and the Forbes 400 reveal that the Walton family-- that is, six heirs to Sam Walton, founder of the discount store chain-- owned a combined $69.7 billion as of 2007. That's equal to the bottom 30% of all Americans combined, 100 million of us.
One family=30% of America.
That's obscene enough, but of course, none of these Waltons even worked for it. They're "heirs." The company store moves in, levels Main Street, and the store inheritors break the bank. There's still time for change, however, we're not yet being issued scrip.
posted by CM @ 7:05 PM
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