Driving around low-income areas you’re likely to stumble upon numerous “Dollar Stores”, and it’s easy to understand why: the items are cheap.
Now, numerous cities are placing a moratorium on these stores, with officials claiming these stores are attracting crime and causing “food deserts”.
Source after source will tell you the following story:
– Everyone who shops at these stores enjoys their experience
– These stores open up where a lot of other stores simply will not
– Politicians and city officials blame these stores for people making poor decisions in regards to their diet
The argument among progressives, and those seeking to destroy these types of stores that serve low-income communities, is that “Dollar General” and “Dollar Tree” and the like need to offer fresh produce to customers.
The Atlanta Journal Courrier wrote:
Local governments are beginning to take action. Late last month, the city of Stonecrest passed a total ban on future “small box discount stores,” outlawing businesses less than 12,000 square feet that sell most of their goods for $5 or less.
“You’ve seen your last dollar store in Stonecrest,” Mayor Jason Lary said. The proposal to ban the stores sprouted from concerns from residents that the businesses do not provide enough fresh food options and give off a bad image, he said.
Without saying “you can’t have a dollar store,” cities are passing laws that protect the mega companies like Walmart and others who have massive stores, and whose profits are being undercut by dollar stores offering a lot of the same items.
The notion that stores have to sell particular items or be shut down is something out of a dystopian novel, but here it is playing out right before our eyes.
The belief among progressives is that poor people are incapable of eating healthy because they don’t know where healthy food is. Could you think of anything more condescending than telling someone they aren’t smart enough to figure out where the supermarket is?
Another argument being used among more rural counties is that these stores could be the only store for miles, and unless they offer healthy choices, people have to travel quite a distance. That’s not the problem of “Dollar General” and others.
The city of Tulsa, Oklahoma put a restriction on dollar stores opening up a few years ago, claiming that their existence prevented the area from attracting other business. To these people, dollar stores are only ridden with the type of folks who live on the street.
Never mind the teacher who needs them to get supplies, and relies on these stores to find them fast and cheap. Never mind the parents on a budget who need to get things for their families. Never mind these businesses willing to open up shop and serve their communities when these big, fancy chains wouldn’t.
Politicians only see dollar signs, and they know there’s no money in it for them when it comes to these small box discount stores. They set up shop, and start making money without any help from government subsidies or deals.
The whole “food desert” thing is bologna, although it is the “right” thing to say. What this comes down to is government officials wanting to attract big-chain stores that will line their pockets. These chains don’t want to come to an area filled with stores offering a lot of the same products (for less) they offer.
This isn’t about helping the poor. It never is. But it is the nice thing to say, and that’s all that matters to politicians in the end.
Conservative Daily Update 