Both USA Today Web site and that of bestselling author and commentator Barbara Ehrenreich have some great coverage of and commentary on this past week' s economic carnage (yes, that is what it is!) at Circuit City stores throughout America.

You can find the coverage at these links, respectively:

The USA Today editorial available at the above link is one of the most insightful of all about the ramifications of Circuit City' s actions.  The comments from readers are likewise often worth reading.

Ehrenreich' s bulletin boards are another worthy place where we "ordinary" people can speak out.

Take a look especially at the comments of "LaborSpecialist" on Ehrenreich' s board.  This person, apparently a Vietnam veteran and a former job analyst for the U.S. Department of Labor, is one of the most perceptive posters I' ve ever encountered anywhere on the very matters I' ve been writing and speaking out about in much the same way for years.

This poster' s comment on Circuit City--like Pullman, Colorado Fuel and Iron, Triangle Shirtwaist, or Republic Steel, let that corporate name now forever stand for the watershed tragedy it has wreaked and, with hope, a turning point in American history, as well for as an unthinkably greedy corporation that richly merits eternal infamy and ostracism--could well be mine:

"What do you all think that I have been talking about in all the posts that I have put on this forum[?]"

Circuit City' s outrageous layoffs of some 3,400 of its workers--apparently most, if not all, top performers--clearly indicate the "something" that has been radically wrong in our country and its economy over ever since the days of Ronald Reagan.

There is nothing wrong with a fair and ethical profit, provided that those who truly make it possible equitably and fairly share in it.  But when a profitable corporation seeks even more profit by penalizing, rather than rewarding, its top-performing rank-and-file workers, what sort of message does it really think it is sending to everyone--including you and me--regarding the value of loyalty and high-quality work?  What sort of motivation is there to succeed, much less excel, when those things are "rewarded" by a raise less than the rise in the cost of living or, worse yet, a pink slip?

Any employer that treats its employees thus deserves as much consideration and loyalty from employees (as well as customers, communities, and government) as it gives--little or none.  It is long past time for us to put the Circuit Cities of our nation and world and their out-of-control managements and execuscum in their place!

If you and we do not take a stand now, you or someone for whom you care may indeed be next.  You may indeed be the next person to lose your job--and all you' ve worked for--merely because your employer regards you as "too expensive" for having dared to play by the rules and earn more than rock-bottom wages.  (And watch how, in your job search, employers will refuse to hire or even to interview you, deeming you "overqualified"!)  Gotta find some way to keep paying for those ever-rising executive and management salaries and perks, even if it means rigging or changing the rules of the game, right?

The time for every thinking American to come together and to "draw the line in the sand" is now.  If we do not, you can all but bet that other employers in our one-time "land of opportunity" will somehow get the idea that what Circuit City has done might somehow be something they can do and get away with, too.
 
Where will it stop--when we are all working at minimum wage, with few if any benefits and even fewer rights?

It stops here.

NO MORE!

For starters, consider Circuit City' s actions whenever you decide where to shop.  Consider that there are many alternative sources of the goods and services it offers.  Remind as many others as you can regarding these two vital points.

Above all, tell Circuit City--and your local media and the world--what you think of its actions.

Write to Circuit City CEO Philip J. Schoonover at 9950 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA   23233.  This is the best choice.

But if you want to send Circuit City an e-mail (a far less preferable option in this case) you can do so at

While your own letter or e-mail by itself might not mean much by itself, many such messages might, just might, register some sort of message with its greedheads-in-charge.  And be sure to write to your local media and post online about your take on this vital matter.

Circuit City and its actions, atop so many other outrages over the last 25 years in America against working people, their rights, and their living standards--your and our rights and living standards--show that it is long past time for us all to take back our country, our economy, and our futures.

It will take a New New Deal, if not a Second American Revolution, to accomplish this, but accomplish this we must--for your and our survival and that of future working Americans, as well as the survival of America itself.