Brown Sludge

Greed Cuts Both Ways

November 17th, 2005

“Who steals my purse steals trash; ’tis something, nothing; ’twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands; but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him and makes me poor indeed.”

- William Shakespeare (Othello)

I ran across this article on Fox News (via Drudge) - about a small town in Texas that sold it’s name to a big corporation.

Apparently, the small town of Clark, Texas - will now be known as DISH Texas - having sold it’s name to EchoStar communications.

I can’t begin to tell you how horrifying I find this:

Across the nation, small communities are being courted by large corporations who say renaming a town provides a marketing buzz that can’t be bought in television ads. Though some worry about corporate America’s increasing influence in local government, most towns seem eager to accept.

Although I blog at length about the evils of the Big Box and outright commercialism – I’ve always taken the time to point out that it’s often our greed that they count on as their doorway into our lives and neighborhoods.

I think this says it all.

Entry Filed under: Thoughts