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to say that workers are "forced" to work at Wal-Mart for "slave wages" is ridiculous.
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No, they aren't 'forced' to work there like a slave camp in China would, but if the choice is between working at a minimum wage job (although I'm sure wal-mart workers at stores start out a little bit above the minimum) or walk the unemployment line their isn't much of a 'choice' now is there? Yes, some people exaggerate the use of words like 'forced' and 'slavery', but some people have limited choices of where they can work. There is unemployment, isn't there? (meaning there is more people than jobs available, so the employer has more choices than the employee). Would you rather them use the term 'financial suicide' instead of 'forced' or 'slavery'?

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Having dealt with the "Wal-Mart" creates poverty argument, we now turn to the more nebulous claim that the chain store "destroys" communities. Now, I have never seen a place that has been severely damaged or "destroyed" by Wal-Mart.
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Bringing a Wal-Mart into a community turns 'rural' areas into more 'urban' areas. There is some good things about this, and also some bad things. Both the pro and anti Wal-Mart sides exagerrate the good or bad, depending on the viewpoints they want to support.

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Here's one I hadn't heard until last night. Did you know that if your non-profit organization arranges for a fund-raiser at Wal-Mart (car wash, for example) that Wal-Mart matches donations dollar for dollar?
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Only for a few pre-approved (by Bentonville) charities.

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With Walmart many of us realize those smaller shops were making a ridiculous profit before competition came in and spoiled their little monopoly.
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Maybe true for some, but not true for most. Wal-mart (and other large chains) can buy their products at cheaper prices (due to the quantity they are buying at one time...'wholesale/bulk' prices) so that the large stores can sell the products at lower prices than what the small store can even buy the stuff at. For some of the small stores to sell the same stuff at Wal-mart prices they would lose money.
I think some of the Wal-Mart haters are worried/paranoid about what will happen when Wal-mart has a monopoly.

[quote]
...quality goods..
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Cheap, yes, but not always 'quality'. Some things I will never buy at Wal-mart.

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I miss Small Town America but WalMart didn't kill it alone.
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Very true, Wal-Mart is the 'Target'(pun intended), because it was the most successful one of the bunch.

The other comments:

I work at Wal-Mart, but I work at a distribution center (DC), not at a store. Those working at a DC make much, much more (close to union wages if you do my job, in fact much higher than some of the bad unions I've worked for in the past) than those working at a store (but working at a DC is also much harder and more skilled-required work). Some of the stuff in the article (the anti-walmart stuff) is total crap, which I had never heard before and is rediculous, but there is a tiny bit of truth in some of the anti-Walmart stuff. Unfortunately, due to some of the anti-Walmarter's exaggerations they say about it is what ruins their credibility. The greeter doesn't need to watch you, there is cameras all over the place that is watching you (ever hear of the 'Loss Prevention' department?).

From my experience at Wal-mart, this is what I will say is the truth:

67% of Wal-Mart employees can not afford Wal-Mart's health insurance. If you are a single person, it is reasonably priced, but for family insurance it is rediculous (family insurance is at least 5X higher than for a single person). Many people use the insurance of thier spouse (who works somewhere else) rather than Wal-mart. Their solution for fighting the increase in medical costs last year was to cut part of our benefits (chiropractic). 'Unlimited' benefits (after your deductible, Wal-mart will pay all your hospital bills, regardless of how high it is, even if it is in the millions of $) is one thing I feel is rising the cost for the rest of us that will probably never, ever need that much coverage.

While there has been several lawsuits over the years from employees, you have to keep in mind that Wal-Mart has over 1 million employees. There will be isolated cases of 1 individual doing something that does not represent the entire company. In the last few years, Wal-Mart headquarters have been increasing sending the message to it's stores and DCs (both managers and employees- which they call 'coaches' and 'assossiates) that these kind of things will not be tolerated.
I just got done watching a video where they tell us that we aren't allowed to do ANY work off the clock and we could be disciplined (up to and including termination) for doing so. In the past, if a manager was doing some paperwork during his lunchbreak (to help get caught up if he was behind schedule) it might have been ignored, now they will tell you that this is WORK and you can't do it if you are punched out. Common sense for most people, but some individuals felt they needed to 'get the job done on time', regardless of the circumstances and will do whatever it takes (including working through breaks if that was needed). They have also begun strictly enforcing the rule that we must take our FULL lunch break (we must be off the clock for a full 30 minutes, not 29 minutes or 28 minutes).

Some of the Wal-Mart management is an egotistical bunch, that is for sure. Their 'open-door' policy is a joke if the manager you are making a suggestion of what Wal-Mart could do differently, then mocks you, is condescending, and basically says "We are number 1, so EVERYTHING we do is right!"

The first 2 years I worked there, the company didn't seem to give a crap if we worked 14 or 16 hour days "Some days are busier than others is just part of the business" was their mentality (nevermind that it was sometimes long hours everyday for weeks at a time). Morale was at an all-time low and a pat on the back doesn't make up for it. They said they care, but actions speak louder than words.
Then they finally got the 'brilliant idea' to hire part-time workers for the busier days (ironically, something other companies do) and now life is good. Now it is pretty consistently the same, regular hours day to day, with no overtime unless we really want it.