Walmart Spy

The notion that government can be run like a corporation has been so successful, as evidenced by FEMA's work in New Orleans and Haliburton's work in Iraq, that it follows that companies start to assume the powers of governments.

So why shouldn't Walmart have it's own intelligence service? This idea is completely consistent with the fact that Walmart's revenues exceed the GDP of several nations and its market power has profound influence on global trade policy.

If this trend continues (and there's no reason to think it won't) we'll likely see the merging of corporate interests and resources. The US government uses private phone companies to spy on Americans, what would prevent Walmart from striking similar deals with communications companies? This is already widely practiced in the fields of banking, finance, and marketing.

One step beyond might be the synergy offered by tapping the increasing power of private security companies such as Blackwater, whose conservative Christian founder boasts of having 20,000 men at his beck and call.

Local zoning boards and consumer groups have a difficult time stopping Walmart now. Just imagine what it would be like if big box stores exercised their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms. The notion of the customer always being right would become as quaint as the Geneva Conventions.