The first letter to the editor I ever wrote was long ago in my hometown, Oswego, N.Y. The subject was to express my opinion that the city council should not approve the building of a Walmart store within the city limits. To me, it was crystal clear what doing so would do to our community, a “greatest generation” community with a thriving downtown and multiple family-owned businesses.

Today, if I were to search for “men’s clothing,” where once I’d have found 10 choices, I now get Walmart and JCPenney. The same is true for shoes, sporting goods, women’s clothing, etc.

So, what’s the difference? Think about it. The profits from those small businesses went to local banks and stayed in the community, not sent off to corporate offices for dividends, bonuses and excessive CEO salaries.

The intent of this letter is not to rail on Walmart, which has made obscene profits (while at times paying employees so poorly that they needed public assistance), but to illustrate just how corporations have fostered an ever-growing unequal distribution of wealth that has left the middle class far behind. The benefits of an ever-growing economy are channeled to a smaller and smaller group at the top – while 37% of households don’t have $400 cash for an emergency.

Let these facts sink in:

• According to Inequality.org: As of Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, there are 728 billionaires with combined wealth of $4.48 trillion (Forbes).
• According to the Federal Reserve, the bottom 50% of Americans hold $4.16 trillion in household wealth as of Q4 of 2022.

Herb Fox
Limerick