Is Wal-Mart Evil?
by Carl Kozlowski
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Anyone watching the news at the end of Thanksgiving weekend could see the startling footage of people swarming building entrances and trampling each other. Appearing to riot and loot, thousands of people attacked in a frenzy that was almost terrifying to behold.

The strangest thing of all, however, was that the footage wasn't of young Muslims tearing through the streets of Pakistan in protest of Danish political cartoons. Nor was it depicting people fighting for food and blankets after the latest catastrophe du jour.

No, these were Americans, Americans engaged in a uniquely American form of rioting. These people were storming Wal-Mart stores in search of cheap laptops, limited supplies of the latest X-boxes and portable DVD players that had just been price-slashed to under $100. And all that cash-spending has enabled Wal-Mart to become America's largest retailer (with more than $240 billion in sales in 2003). As a nation we’re shouting, “Hey, world, we've got our priorities, and the biggest one seems to be low prices at any cost.”

The Mecca for shopping madness is under fire from an ever-growing array of critics charging that Wal-Mart engages in dirty business practices that make those bargains possible. At the same time, Wal-Mart is fighting back with its own side of the story, proudly publicizing its status as America's leading private employer (with a 1.2-million-member workforce) in an attempt to maintain public goodwill at a time of aggressive expansion plans. And as critics and supporters face off in a battle for America's hearts and minds, it appears likely that the ultimate showdown will take place in America's most populous state, California.

"California is important to Wal-Mart because studies show that 70% of retailing business is done in the top 60 or 70 markets," said John Dicker, author of The United States of Wal-Mart. "Wal-Mart doesn't have a strong presence in urban markets, and they need to score in California if they're going to continue competing. And because of that, there's a real battle for market share in that state."

But no matter where you live, Wal-Mart will affect your life in some way.  Even if you vow never to set foot in a Wal-Mart, know that plenty of other retailers are dying to follow their business model. And by creating big trends, Wal-Mart (or any large market force) affects entire economies with its policies.

A former reporter for the Colorado Springs Independent, Dicker takes a thorough look at all sides of the arguments regarding Wal-Mart and its business practices in The United States of Wal-Mart, released in June 2005. While he rails against such aspects of Wal-Mart culture as the company's perceived low wages and skimpy benefits, its ruthless expansion at the expense of small-town shops and its staunch anti-union practices, Dicker also points out that Wal-Mart must be doing something right for the average consumer in order to become the world's largest retailer.

"The good part about Wal-Mart is often overlooked by a lot of liberals: they're very good at marketing to poor people, with low prices on check cashing and money wiring services," explained Dicker. "It could have the ability to change the way we shop. They could follow the lead of Albi, a German hard-discount store, by charging customers for plastic bags. Or by saying if you want to get a shopping cart you have to put money down. WM isn't doing it but has the power to do it."

While that may sound like pure penny-pinching greed, Dicker notes that such moves could actually have a positive impact on society by making people think twice about little things like how many bags they need. Wal-Mart could also have a further positive environmental impact on society, by demanding that its vendors cut down on their packaging, which accounts for 40 percent of America's litter.

On the other hand, Dicker notes that the worst aspects of Wal-Mart lie in the way they treat their employees. Dicker was working for the online magazine Salon.com in 2000 when he was assigned to go undercover as a union mole at a Kmart distribution center. Dicker turned his sights on Wal-Mart between 2001 and 2003 as the retail giant faced off against Las Vegas workers hoping to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW). Wal-Mart ultimately won the battle, but Dicker places the blame more squarely on the shoulders of what he believes are "very ineffectual" union leaders, who are so used to being depicted as heroic Davids against evil corporate Goliaths that they often are not open to receiving critical analysis that could make them more effective in inevitable future battles.

"Wal-Mart perpetuates the lie that a $9 an hour job with no affordable health benefits is a good job. It's barely a job. Sure, they can say  'We provide jobs,' but what kind of jobs?" asked Dicker. "They say most of their employees are second-wage earners, teens in school and seniors. That's very disingenuous and they should be taken to task wherever they go."

These days, Wal-Mart is going straight after California because of its status as America's largest state economy and as the 6^th largest economy on the planet. In fact, the owning Walton family members have combined with the actual company to donate more than $1 million to Gov. Schwarzengger's election and Proposition 77 campaigns -- donations that soon appeared to be rewarded with vetoes that worked in their favor.

Gov. Schwarzenegger's press representatives state generically that "the governor only accepts or rejects legislation based on what's best for the people of California," and Wal-Mart reps state that the Walton family's donations are their own personal concerns having nothing to do with the company.