Subtle change in American mind

Some university art students did performance art at a local Wal-Mart. (link courtesy Romenesko.) The people who ran the store were not amused, contrary to expectations. Well, I would have expected the Wal-Mart people to be unamused, but college kids are forever optomistic. That's what makes them cute.

There's something seminal about that story. During the first Gulf War, in the early 90s, anti-war demonstrators tried to do street theater in shopping malls and were kicked out. Now the American id has moved to Wal-Mart; if you want to reach people, that's where you go. Shopping malls are clearly passé.