BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
No, this is not about the rebirthing Ottoman Empire as embodied in Turkey’s much touted “neo-Ottoman” foreign policy, nor as manifested in the now-cancelled Hollywood appearance of the Ottoman marching band (see below the body of this article for a few comments on this turn of events). This is about Walmart.
Walmart is the biggest corporation in the world. With that kind of size, comes great responsibility, unless, of course, you’re Walmart and shirk that responsibility. And, you keep shirking, and shirking, and shirking…
Then, when people start saying “ENOUGH”, catching on to your vile business model, and working against the opening of Walmart stores in new location, you, as the New Evil Empire, find clever ways to get around people’s ability to stop you.
This is what’s happening now in Burbank. Walmart has purchased the building that previously housed “Great Indoors”, limiting people’s ability to constrain the behemoth through zoning and other discretionary tools available to cities wishing to protect the quality of life of their residents, small business owners’ livelihoods, and the jobs of people in the broader area.
Studies have shown that for every job Walmart creates (one of the selling points the behemoth uses to market itself), one-and-a-half jobs disappear! Crime increases in the vicinity of Walmart stores. The small businesses in the area can’t compete with the prices Walmart sets, and they go under. And, if for whatever reason Walmart is dissatisfied with a particular store’s performance, it will be shut down and often kept vacant and unsold, so no one else can move in, thus creating conditions ripe for blight.
All this is to be endured for the “privilege” of paying low prices. But have you ever wondered how those low prices are possible? (Think: “the HIGH cost of low price”). Walmart squeezes it’s suppliers/manufacturers, causing those outfits in turn to maintain abusive working conditions, sweatshops and the like, where people are locked inside and have died when they couldn’t evacuate (in this, Walmart is not alone, but it is a MAJOR contributor to the slave-labor-like conditions extant in many developing countries’ factories). They also cause much environmental damage because of their business model (though to be fair, of late they have taken some tiny steps in the right direction because they think it looks good for them and will make them more money).
And what of the employees in Walmart’s stores? They’re not much better off. Their wages are often at poverty levels. They can’t afford the health insurance Walmart offers (it comes out to nearly half their wages!) so they end up using emergency rooms and government provided care, at everyone else’s expense. A class-action case recently reached the U.S. Supreme Court in which 1.5 million women said they were treated unequally (the court ruled they couldn’t constitute a class, but not on the merits of the discrimination they claimed).
Why should we care? It’s simple. Many Armenians are small business owners and live in Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, etc. that would be impacted by the opening of this Walmart store. This is of course in addition to just plain doing the right thing. There’s a Facebook page you can access. Please join the effort to find a way to block Walmart from opening its maw to suck out the life of Burbank and surroundings.
***
Briefly, regarding the Ottoman marching band, we should celebrate this victory, but recognize how close we were to disaster. Had they performed, it would have been a foot in the door to a slowly growing Turkish propaganda presence in the heart of the largest Armenian community outside Armenia and Russia.
Many people, friends in and out of City Hall worked to amend the street closure permit given to the murderous marchers. Even a State Senator’s office was involved. When they were forced onto the sidewalk, they cancelled the event, PROVING their real goal was hateful incitement of the Armenian community. What’s really repulsive is the “oh-my-gawsh-we-never-imagined-this-would-be-offensive” BS emanating from the Pacifica Institute as reported in the LATimes (“Protest ends Hollywood parade plan”, Jason Wells, September 30, p.AA4). They even had the audacity to claim they explored the possibility of including “other cultures” in the parade, but couldn’t pull that off in time!
This “cultural” angle is the approach the Turks are using to gain a foothold. The murderous marchers are in town because of the “Anatolian Cultures & Food Festival” to be held in Orange County October 6-9. This is a perfect example of cultural thievery, and must be addressed, too.
I just want to encourage Armenian to see the hidden psychology in that Ottoman march. Turks are aggressive, they are warlike, they are conquerors and the sons of conquerors. They march in conquest. They march as warriors. They display their swords and shileds and banners and flags. They use loud instruments, and the regalia of their prowess is a sharp warning to any opponent.
Compared to Turks, Armenians don’t march in conquest, only in protest. It is the strong who conquer, it is the weak who protest. Armenians don’t have loud army anthems of conquest, nor loud army morale- building marches….only the wails of their cries, a trail of tears and a blood trail from the Highlands to the Syrian desert. Turks march like Turanic warlords, Armenians are cowardly sheep. Turkish Grey Wolves, Armenian brainless, gutless, chicken shit cowardly sheep! Asiatic invaders kicked them out of their own country, and all Armenians know how to do is run to Western countries as bastard immigrants with the shirts on their backs ever since the Genocide. All Armenians learned to do is hide under the skirts of America.
lol, I would have to think about your post, but I did find it funny in a way.
On another note, I don’t think that the Armenian warrior spirit was ever fully extinguished. Perhaps put on hold since the fall of Cilician Armenia for 500 years. Under the circumstances, there was little else we could do. Either it was Christian sheep, or Islamic converts. Our people chose both sides of the equation. And when the Turk started implementing indiscriminate massacre, it was then that our warrior spirit was awakened, although too late to prevent the genocide. I am confident that the Turk has never won in a fair fight, and this has been our curse, always being outnumbered. The conclusion is that our only salvation is unity.
Wow, Arman…not quite sure what this has to do with Wal-Mart, but I’m guessing from your broken English that you probably can’t keep all your genocides and discount stores straight. Can’t you find something useful to do, like sweeping out your cave? No male oil wrestling matches for you and your buddies to partake in? No sheep to date?
But it’s so good to see that Turks are shedding that unfair stereotype of neanderthal genocidal barbarians of women and babies that the rest of the world has portrayed them as. Hey Dude, nice band!!
Garen is definitely the Armenian Andy Rooney. A younger bitter man. Never writes an article about anything positive going on in the world today. Have to applaud him for that because its not easy.
Fighting Turkey is one thing. Fighting Walmart? Good luck.
I thought this was an Armenian news website???
It is… read the article fully again, you will see how it relates to Armenians.
I love shopping at wallmart with all the rest of the filthy peasants. Stuff is so cheap it rocks and rolls
I liked this article and thought it was entertaining and informative. Somehow a part of me believes that even Walmart cannot overcome the Armenian business prowess, perhaps some Armenians will be affected, but they will still find a way and thrive even in the face of Walmart.
We can always count on Garen to defame free enterprise and advocate the virtues of socialism. We can see what socialism did to Greece and Europe, yet don’t worry this guy doesn’t miss a chance to preach the obvious self-destructive opposite. Wal-Mart enables people to live beyond their means without burdening us with their debt. That’s how good it is. I wish Garen could go to a socialist country and tell us how happy he is there. Socialism is a violation of nature’s laws. How can you violate nature and get away with it? How natural is it to force another to pay for your life’s comforts Garen while he toils to death for you?
Arman, are the people who raped and cut the heads of inoccent women and
children that you are refering to as the sons of the conquerors? And is it our
hero Tehlerian that you are refering to as gutless chicken, God blesses his
soul. I beleive you mean the heartless barberic mongol and tatar mix
worthless beings when you refer to Asiatic invaders. Yes, invaders who only
know how to Torture, Usurp, Rape, and Kill. Where do you think the name “Turk”
Comes from? When Armenians fight they fight the soldiers of the opponent not
the unarmed inoccent people.
When Turks commited the Genocide they were not invading another land that
you are so proud of your people have done, they massacred thier own citizens
You dumb turk, and whether the turks like it or not the Truth shall prevail, it always
has, it will be just a matter of time that Turkey will be forced by the international
community to recognize the Armenian Genocide and turkey will pay dearly.
Are not Walmart’s and the Dollar Stores et al really just Chinese supermarkets in the USA? Cheap prices and cheap quality.