Wal-Mart's proposed expansion has become a "But this is Chico" saga. The phrase "But this is Chico" has many shades of meaning, some of  them laudatory, but in this case it describes an issue that becomes larger than life. It turns into an epic struggle  between two opposing forces, each believing that reason and righteousness are on their side alone. The struggle can go on and on and take a long time to resolve.

A decision has supposedly been made about Wal-Mart. Its expansion has been officially blocked, but I can't believe we've heard the last of it. This is Chico.

Since I've come to Chico, I've seen several contentious issues become sagas. Some examples: the proposal to extend Otterson Drive over Comanche Creek/Edgar Slough, the fate of the property known as Bidwell Ranch and disc golf in upper Bidwell Park.  I see some  potential for the proposal  to relocate the Saturday Market to become a "But this is Chico" saga.

Chicoans who become immersed in these struggles display far more righteousness than reason. This is understandable. If you apply reason to just about any  issue, you end up seeing  it from not one, not two, but  from many of points of view. The drama of a saga demands polarization.

I'm not immune to the seductions of righteousness. I'm that way about the health care reform debate. I think people who are happy with the current insurance industry-run system simply have not yet seen the light. Eventually, a public option will gain almost universal support. That's because, sooner or later, just about everyone will get burned by the current system. It's that black and white to me.
 
But so far none of the Chico sagas have succeeded in  completely derailing  my ability to weigh the merits of competing arguments. The Wal-Mart expansion intrigues me not so much because I'm attached to any particular outcome but because, for once, the main point of contention isn't growth or land use. Not really. It's about the viability and value of capitalism.

People say "Why pick on Wal-Mart?" That's not hard to figure out. If  what we're really discussing is the soundness of our country's economic system, there isn't a better target. Wal-Mart is the most profitable retailer in the world. It has pursued its policy of offering consumers the lowest prices with a single-minded aggressiveness. It does this with cheap labor and putting the screws to producers, many of which are becoming increasingly dependent on the company because Wal-Mart has become a major buyer of their products.

Wal-Mart has become dominant in many sectors of the retail industry.

And now it's going after the discount grocery business.

Some of the arguments for  Wal-Mart's expansion have focused on the notion that it's important for the free-enterprise system to remain unfettered.
 
Let's look at the opposite argument first. Whenever people assert that  government ownership and control of the economy is their ideal, they are branded as fringies.

But somehow, belief in a pure market system is still regarded as mainstream. The fact is, this country is a a mixture of socialism and free enterprise. The public and private sectors have always been collaborators, and government subsidizes and promotes private enterprise as often as it restricts it.

The notion that Chico is either  open or closed for business is simplistic. In real life, Chico is open to some businesses and closed to others.  Would we welcome a smoke-belching factory? No way. A prison?  I don't think so.  An Indian gambling casino inside the city limits? Not likely.
 
Chico has a reputation for caring about its quality of life. The issue isn't as esoteric as it sounds. What Chico needs more than anything to ensure it has a good quality of life is to attract and retain  jobs that pay at least twice the minimum wage.  Wal-Mart is apparently unable to do that and keep prices down at the same time. Creating  more modest-paying jobs  is not exactly a plus for Chico.

On the other hand, low prices are also a quality of life issue. Most people in Chico don't make $16 an hour or more. They don't have the luxury of being able to patronize higher-priced stores. This is a community of residents of modest means. We live in a county where the unemployment rate is above the statewide average  even in the best of times. So when it comes to keeping prices down, the free market - that is to say, competition - is critical.

There is a fear that Wal-Mart is so predatory  that, if it were permitted to expand,  it  would  drive every other discount grocer out of Chico and then raise its prices.

It would be in trouble at that point. Customers would lose their  faith in Wal-Mart and stop patronizing it.  New competitors, just as cunning and aggressive as Wal-Mart, would arise and crush it. Much of Chico's economic base is fragile, but its retail sector is  strong  enough to keep Wal-Mart in check.