"It Only Hurts My Eyes a Little"

We just watched the screed on WalMart (WalMart - The High Cost of Low Price) which is available at any video store now (except WalMart, I'd suppose). I take these types of films with a grain of salt because they're typically very slanted. However, this one provided testimony from former employees (and current ones) and showed some figures that I've seen elsewhere.

There were a number of apalling images brought to light, including video from inside the dorms and factories in China that service WalMart. This is stuff I was aware of but this film put a lot of it into perspective. A startling revelation to me was how much local governments spend on WalMart subsidies to get them to build. In many cases, the millions spent to capture future tax money from WalMart could have helped to keep schools operational or teachers employed.

I have a feeling that my cynicism and disdain in my current work situation at a company that has nothing to do with WalMart is, in fact, due to WalMart. If they can get away with human rights violations, real estate bullying, and worse in the name of the bottom line, why can't other companies? It's a business plan that's allowed WalMart to grow year after year and become the monster that it is. What company wouldn't want to have the kind of sway that WalMart has in the most powerful economy in the world?

Even if the film was overblown or exaggerated, I've seen enough of the effects of WalMart in DeKalb (first hand) to oppose them. We're fortunate to be in a position to not have to shop at WalMart and we will not shop there any longer.