>Posted on 5 Jan 1995 at 18:38:20 by TELEC List Distributor (011802) > >[PEN-L:3617] Prison Labor, Wal-Mart, Class > >Date: Thu, 5 Jan 1995 14:29:45 -0800 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >From: "Cotter_Cindy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Highways aren't the only things U.S. prisoners build. I was told >the wooden furniture and bannisters at the CSUN library were >built by prison labor. I've also seen a classy full page ad in >Governing Magazine for a southern state that wants to contract >with anybody to produce practically anything or provide any >service. Well, perhaps not security guards.... > >I have mixed feelings. I wouldn't want to compete for my >living with someone paid virtually nothing and living at >state expense. On the other hand, leaving prisoners to >molder useless in their cells at taxpayer expense doesn't >sound like a great plan either. Reducing the prison population >would be a great idea, but there will doubtless be some we'd >most all agree should be locked up. > >BTW, the most recent issue of Governing (Jan '95) has a >cover article titled "The Mega-Store Monster" about the >political furor aroused in small communities by the >onslaught of Wal-Mart "and its kin." (Is this the list where >there was some discussion of that issue? Sorry if I'm off >the mark.) > >There's a statement in the article that relates to our >earlier discussion of class: "But the fact of the matter >is, working-class and rural New York and New England >residents don't spend a great deal of time worrying about >the 'built environment' or the 'cultural landscape,' to use >just two of the phrases that preservationists like to >toss around. They tend to be more impressed by the >notion that clothes, towels and dishes will be a few >dimes cheaper once the mega-store arrives, and that >there will be a sizable increase in the number of >part-time jobs available, albeit for low wages and >spotty benefits." A statement that seems to be shear fabrication. Wal-Mart is having an awful time getting into Vermont and building another store about 5 miles from here. Working class New Englanders may not worry about "the built environment", but they do worry about their way of life, property values, and the safety of their kids. "The built environment" is an abstraction (but not a chaotic one), and few lay people think in these terms. Nonethelees, it is a real, intimately related to everyday life, and the object of struggle. Marsh Feldman Community Planning Phone: 401/792-2248 204 Rodman Hall FAX: 401/792-4395 University of Rhode Island Internet: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Kingston, RI 02881-0815 "Marginality confers legitimacy on one's contrariness."
