I mostly ignored WalMart's possible sale of goods made by the slave labor of political dissidents in China. I ignored WalMart's push for government-run healthcare. But now, this is really something I can't ignore. So I wrote the following email to WalMart.
I was recently dismayed to learn that you have teamed up with the Department of Homeland Security to encourage your customers to keep an eye on other customers and "say something" if they see something suspicious.
This is absurd. Most public places in America, let alone WalMart stores, are not dangerous, and we do not need government public service announcements to remind us to report something "suspicious." Trust that the government will be next at defining what suspicious is rather than leaving it to common sense.
This "campaign" will do nothing to make Americans safer or more secure. This, just like the new TSA screenings at airports, has nothing to do with safety and is simply an excuse to see what sorts of government control Americans will put up with.
I will not be shopping at WalMart until you stop, and renounce, this outrageous textbook fascism. It's no secret why Homeland Security has chosen to align with the country's biggest producer of consumer goods. It just wants to see what sorts of nonsense ordinary Americans will put up with on its inexorable march toward a police state. Shame on you, WalMart, for becoming part of the DHS takeover of America.
Many people laughed ten years ago and made jokes about the "Homeland" begin akin to the "Fatherland" of the Third Reich.
Is it really so far off? I was totally gobsmacked to receive, in response to my message, the following "confidential" email from WalMart. I started bolding the outrageous portions, until I realized I was bolding the whole damn thing. See for yourself:
Thank you for your message.
Dear Monica,
Thank you for your recent inquiry. It's important to Walmart to help protect the safety of the communities we serve all across the country. We're proud to be the first national retail partner of the Department of Homeland Security's awareness campaign "If You See Something, Say Something". Everyone has a role to play and this is one way our company can help do our part, by providing these public service messages.
All Walmart stores that are equipped with video screens (nearly 600) at the checkouts will feature a short video message from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano encouraging customers to report any suspicious activity to their local law enforcement.
Walmart is a place where people gather - in many towns, it is where neighbors might see one another the most. -We want our customers and associates to always be vigilant, whenever they are out in public, to help them ensure their personal safety and the safety of their community.
For more information, please visit our website @ www.walmartstores.com/pressroom and search for the article under 'recent news' or search the site using the phrase 'Homeland Security'.
Sincerely,
Walmart Customer Care
"Walmart is a place where people gather - in many towns, it is where neighbors might see one another the most. We want our customers and associates to always be vigilant..."
Sometimes truth is worse than fiction. You can't make this stuff up. People are making analogies to George Orwell's 1984. I think there is another apt analogy. This is straight out of Harry Potter 5 where Professor Umbridge, as a Ministry of Magic agent, infiltrates the school, enacts over 100 decrees at her whim, and enlists student spies in the Inquisitorial Squad.
5 comments:
Interestingly signed just by "Walmart Customer Care". The poor sod who was told to write a reply probably put his very best into making it a sarcastic joke. Then again, you never know. After all, the best trolls are indistinguishable from genuine idiots.
What a great blog. I came it across it by accident but have now subsribed to the feed. Thank you for such well written content. I'm looking forward to going back through some of your older posts.
Thank you,
Kristina
www.moldlab.com
I worked for Walmart for awhile and I can tell you in no uncertain terms that it is one huge mindcontrol operation...the managers, especially, have been brainwashed and are nothing but zombies. It is the most horrible place I ever worked. Not because the work is hard (although most of it is very hard), but because Walmart wants your soul in return for your paycheck, not just your labor. The environment there is totally coercive and oppressive to those who don't display the proper Walmart spirit, or who display any dignity or self-esteem. Its like 1984, where Big Brother empties Wilson Smith out to fill him with itself. THat is what Walmart does to people who display the least bit of dignity or self esteem...you are either a toady, you get broken or you quit. It is the rare person, although I know a few, who manage to retain their spirit and still work there. I was not amoung them...I had to quit because I couldn't take it anymore and I couldn't hide how I felt.
This is anonymous who worked at Walmart again. I also feel like I really ought to say that the only suspicious activity anyone is likely to see at Walmart is shoplifting, because Walmart really does have a *huge* shoplifting problem. But what the DHS and Walmart are doing together, as the letter from Walmart clearly shows, is conflating state security with corporate security. We have reached the point where Walmart and its ilk ARE the state. So I guess we really have reached the point were we live in a naked fascist society, since as Mussolini said, fascism should really be called corporatism.
If you are interested in this subject, you have to read this
http://rense.com/general92/dhsprv.htm
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