Complicit in oppression

A book I read last spring talked about systems of power, how they oppress, and how they get others to be complicit in their oppression. All that was on display yesterday.

Walmart is an oppressive power (which is why I only shop there when I absolutely have to and I think it has been 8 years since I had to). It inflicts economic violence on its workforce (many earn so little they qualify for Medicaid -- and Walmart saves on the expense of providing health care) so that the owners can reap huge profits. It lowers its prices enough so that customers willingly shop there, which makes the shopper complicit in its oppression.

Lots of Walmart employees chose Black Friday (actually, late Thursday) as an appropriate time to picket the store. Doing that in front of the crowds would call attention to the plight of the workers and hopefully put a dent in Walmart's revenue.

Many customers saw the protests and could sympathize. They're poor too. But did that keep them from entering Walmart? No. Because they're poor they have to go where the sales are. Thus Walmart makes them complicit in its oppression. And sets records for its Black Friday sales -- nearly 10 million register transactions between 8 pm. and midnight (or 5000 transactions a second).

There were rallies at 100 Walmart stores across the country. The largest rally was 1000 people at the store in Paramount, Calif. Nine were arrested for civil disobedience, including an retired United Methodist pastor.