Shame Where Shame Is Due

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Abstract

s grocery chains are making record profits. This fall, the CEOs of Loblaw, Metro, Empire (Sobeys), Wal-Mart Canada, and Costco Canada were asked to appear before a parliamentary committee that is investigating how price growth for groceries has outpaced overall inflation.</p><p id="fdd3">When giant corporations <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/competition-bureau-grocery-1.6889712">function in a cartel-like manner</a> to maintain high food prices while Canadians suffer, who should really be feeling shame?</p><p id="eaad"><b>Is it the dad who feels like a failure? Is it the single mom who can’t handle a trip to the food bank? Is it someone who doesn’t know where they’ll eat or sleep tonight?</b></p><p id="8330">Shame is a very powerful emotion. It’s a social emotion, meaning that it operates within the shared norms of a specific community. Our capitalist system has given corporations many of the same legal rights and protections as individuals, but <b>corporations do not form a community the way that people do</b>. Sure, there are chambers of commerce and industry lobby groups, but the emotion is missing. In other words, it’s hard to sham

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e a corporation. And because of this, I guess we’re stuck with shaming the CEOs and major shareholders of Canada’s grocery chains.</p><p id="09e8"><b>Shame on you all.</b></p><p id="bdc2"><i>This article was first published as the intro to the December 14, 2023 edition of my <a href="https://johnbdutton.substack.com/archive">Discomfort Zone</a> newsletter on Substack. It was written without the use of artificial intelligence</i>. #<b>zeroAI</b></p><div id="5ebc" class="link-block"> <a href="https://medium.com/@JohnBDutton/list/39588f948bff"> <div> <div> <h2>John B. Dutton - brands, culture and tech (also on Substack)</h2> <div><h3>What a world we live in! Everything is changing fast but deep down, we're still cave people or savannah folk (depending…</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*db7cd3226543bc8c1e87887ef2bee706cfc68f0a.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

A hungry holiday season awaits many Canadians and we all know who’s to blame

In Canada, we know that the Holidays can be tough on families and individuals struggling to make ends meet. We also know that we can make donations to local charities, food banks, and community programs.

But do we know what it’s like to be a person who faces food insecurity?

One obstacle to accessing resources is the emotion of shame. Basic human dignity and a person’s identity as a functioning member of society can be severely affected by feeling shame at having to ask for charity. Shame takes a toll on mental health and restricts the ability to access resources.

But here’s the irony: Canada’s grocery chains are making record profits. This fall, the CEOs of Loblaw, Metro, Empire (Sobeys), Wal-Mart Canada, and Costco Canada were asked to appear before a parliamentary committee that is investigating how price growth for groceries has outpaced overall inflation.

When giant corporations function in a cartel-like manner to maintain high food prices while Canadians suffer, who should really be feeling shame?

Is it the dad who feels like a failure? Is it the single mom who can’t handle a trip to the food bank? Is it someone who doesn’t know where they’ll eat or sleep tonight?

Shame is a very powerful emotion. It’s a social emotion, meaning that it operates within the shared norms of a specific community. Our capitalist system has given corporations many of the same legal rights and protections as individuals, but corporations do not form a community the way that people do. Sure, there are chambers of commerce and industry lobby groups, but the emotion is missing. In other words, it’s hard to shame a corporation. And because of this, I guess we’re stuck with shaming the CEOs and major shareholders of Canada’s grocery chains.

Shame on you all.

This article was first published as the intro to the December 14, 2023 edition of my Discomfort Zone newsletter on Substack. It was written without the use of artificial intelligence. #zeroAI