INDEPENDENTS UNITE

By: Fiorenzo Arcadi, Toronto Hockey Repair

It is difficult to figure out how a new horizon can create its own intellectual brutality in the spirit of nationalism.

We do not see that the current spirit of nationalism nurtures itself through a systematic weakness that allows us to merely exist rather than challenging ourselves as a country.

Perhaps if Charles Darwin was alive today it would be cause for him to rethink his survival of the fittest theory, since simply drifting along goes against conventional wisdom. Or was Darwin's theory oversimplified and cannot be extended to be a blanket endorsation of the "dog eat dog" world of big business.

Do people wish to be the victors themselves and if not by themselves will they align themselves with the strong to vanquish the weak, or deep down is there the hope that all can survive and prosper, if we are willing to make the effort?

I was dealing with one hockey organization whereby the president asked me to place a bid for certain hockey Products that were required. He indicated that my quote was indeed the lowest for all the products, however "in good conscience I cannot give you all the work".

If this is true, the president of this hockey organization has stumbled on a solid foundation in the dismantling of the scorched earth policy which is an inherent by-product of a cancerous corporate philosophy. The hockey organization displayed an altruistic virtue to distribute the work amongst independent,sports store owners. Further analysis reveals that this simple act shows an elevated form of nation building spirit.

The birth of any hockey organization requires the spirit of its own community to nurture its growth. The infrastructure that it creates is associated with small business support. It is mutual support that lends itself to a will--perhaps by design in the challenge of building a country.

Moreover, sports organizations must come to terms with the climate that the elusive intention of a mega store is to open up eight or nine box chain stores, knowing full well that the periphery of Toronto could only support two or three.

This strategic effort only plays out on the basis of wiping out the independent sports stores. The independents' response is to wage a classical war in modem day business. It is the independents who have driven the prices down for the customers, not the mega stores. The larger independent sports stores, that receive a larger volume discount, are allocating their resources to help the smaller ones.

It is an unprecedented move for the independents to undertake, since the very nature of competition dictates a format that the weaker independents must perish. However, underneath this bizarre scenario, a degree of tolerance has surfaced whereby the extension of anticipated time for the mega stores to scorch the independents will stretch to years.

The ends must justify the means. If the mega stores do not have the acquired strength to scorch the independents the escalation could be with hired corporate guns from the States, with a philosophical point of view to do the job that the mega stores can't do.

That is why sports organizations must enlighten themselves with the fact that the political elites in Canada are weak and they have never measured up to the strength of the Canadian character, nor will they ever. When we see our society hell bent on blaming the weak simply because the political elites are too comfortable to challenge themselves, then the sports organization must search their souls and align themselves with the independents.

Furthermore political conciliation and political compromise was never a form of nation building. The strength of any nation is in its citizens. Concentrated power in the hands of a few leads to greater distances between the haves and have nots. As more power is concentrated, more people are left out. And that, in sporting goods and in life, is to the detriment of us all.

When it comes to business, having only the strongest survive will mean only one survives. Could consumers handle no choice? Choose now, or you may not choose at all.