The United Republic of Wal-Mart
Bob Morris @ Jan 25th 2008 00:18 - Category: Energy conservation, Renewable energy
In a major initiative, Wal-Mart will be mandating that its suppliers deliver cheap, green electronics by 2010. They have the clout to force such changes too. Thus, manufacturers of applicances, air conditioners, etc. will need to insure their products are Energy-Star and squeaky green if they want to sell to the behemoth that is Wal-Mart.
One day, Wal-Mart may even be selling EVs you can re-charge with wind turbines in their parking lots. Yes, they are thinking big. Huge, in fact.
But there’s more. From Ecogeek.
[Walmart] CEO Lee Scott says that we live in a world where we no longer have faith in the government to make positive changes. So Wal-Mart is making that change their responsibility.
It’s great that they’re working to be a more environmental company. But does this sound kinda scary to anyone else? Almost like we’re on the edge of being governed more by corporations than by government?
That’s precisely what’s happning. This is a tenet of Fourth Generation Warfare. As the state becomes hollowed out, private corporations will fill the void. This is an unavoidable process, so it behooves us to do our best to make them responsive to us. Seriously. (Even more so with the military counterparts to Wal-Mart like Blackwater, et al.)
So, on one hand, this is kinda scary. But on the other, it’s clear that huge corporations genuinely get it now about renewable energy and energy conservation. And may well force our governments to do the same.
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3 Responses to “The United Republic of Wal-Mart”
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John Couzin on 25 Jan 2008 at 5:21 pm #
“It’s great that they’re working to be a more environmental company. But does this sound kinda scary to anyone else? Almost like we’re on the edge of being governed more by corporations than by government?”
It might seem scary, but aren’t we already governed by corporations? What was the illegal invasion of Iraq all about? If you look around and question why a host of things are happening there is no other answer except that it is at the behest of the corporate world. After all, all our political leaders are part and parcel of that class, so who do they take their orders from and in favour of whom? Who shapes and funds the political parties and why? Did Bush think up all the ideas of his presidency all by himself? If not where did his “advisors” come from?
Bob Morris on 25 Jan 2008 at 9:04 pm #
4GW posits that the continued hollowing out of states will led to corporations becoming much more dominant, maybe even challenging governments for power. Regional and local political powers will also gain as the state loses influence.
DJ on 26 Jan 2008 at 8:47 am #
Alvin Toffler predicted back int he late 1980s that the irrelevance of the nation state was fast approaching. His Third Wave theory dovetails nicely with 4GW– but is not limited to warfare. But as the nation state declines in power, he thought we’d we’ll see both globalization and localization– as indeed we have on the warfare front.
Expect the same economically and politically– witness the State of California signing environmental pacts with foreign governments, citing the fact that the Feds won’t, as well as the resurgence of small farms and local markets. Globalization has taken center stage so far, but localization is quietly proceeding as well.