The Dollar Store solution

I came across an article on Alternet entitled "Dollar Stores: The Last, and Not So Healthy Eating Choice, Before the Food Lines" and it talked about the kinds of food products found in dollar stores and why people buy food there. Here's a paragraph that really disturbed me:

The ethic behind dollar stores is both pervasive and perverse. Employers who seek to maximize their profit margins by slashing wages hire people who in turn attempt to stretch their diminishing dollars by purchasing discount items. Such items come from other companies that compete by slashing their wages, creating yet a lower social strata of consumers. The rock-bottom of the food chain, as it were, is the dollar store, the last stop before the food pantry, which is where a lot of unsold dollar store goods end up.

Isn't this an example of the retreating tide lowering all boats???
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