I was reading this article today on Alternet about Target being no better than Walmart when it comes to union-busting activities, refusing to pay a living wage and using part-time so that they don’t have to pay for healthcare. I always suspected this was true but sometimes I like to put my hand over my ears and say over and over, “I’m not listening I’m not listening I’m not listening.” I’ve done that quite a bit in general lately because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be alive. There is interesting commentary at the end of the article, much of it expressing frustration with the greater system that makes stores like Target possible. Big box retailers are just a part of a greater problem – consumer culture. It goes beyond the ridiculous circle of we have to go to Target because that’s what we can afford and then we’re just supporting the very system that underpays us in the first place argument. It’s our unquenchable need for *stuff* to define and placate ourselves – myself included. What’s worse is that while being conscious of my own consumerism, I still engage in it. Because my family is about to cut back to one income for a few months, I’ve been thinking of all the things we purchase that we don’t need and I’m hoping that living on a very fixed salary with absolutely no room for anything extraneous will be a good lesson in What Not To Buy.