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"If I can buy the same product for less, I will."

Well, who wouldn't? But you, friend, along with most of the people I've read responding to this, seem to think that, if it's done in the name of capitalism and freemarkets, it's gotta be okay. I personally love Walmart for its prices, but maybe not so much for its values. I don't think people should be gouged, by any means, but I don't resent a fair profit now and then, either. This article explained, in large part, how this juggernaut called Walmart hurts supplier companies, then in turn hurting those companies' employees. The Vlasic pickle was a great example: A company spends generations building what was the "class act" in pickles, but then its foray into business with Walmart tears down the brand in a couple years.

People are also saying, you don't HAVE to do business with Walmart, just turn away. Not as easy as you think. If you're established in the consumer products busines, you're likely one of a handful of companies concentrating on your specialty--locks, batteries, fishing line, etc. Walmart is far too big a marketplace to ignore. But if you run after it, and get it, that can hurt you as much as not getting the account, in time.

"If I can buy the same product for less, I will," you say. Let's say your labor is a product (as, of course, it is). Let's say you get $20 per hour. Someone comes along and tells your employers, I can do it for $18. per hour. Your employer has no choice, right? Free markets, we can all do what we want, free to compete, etc. You step up and offer to work for $18 also.

So the guy who wanted your job at $18 (hey, I KNOW he's an illegal, let's not go there, that's another discussion), says, $15. Wait a minute, you need this job, you want to come back with another price. And there you are, in a backwards bidding war for your product. Who wins? Your employer, in the short run anyway.

Not a perfect example, but then, "examples" never have been perfect, no place, no time.

I'm as free-enterprise and let-the-markets decide as anybody on this site, so spare me all the lectures about how my head's in the wrong place on this. The reason all our previous knowledge doesn't quite work when discussing Walmart is, there's never been anything like this. I personally think that, in a decade or less, the government will step in to rein in WalMart. I don't quite know how, but I do think that, ultimately, WallyWorld is not good for us. Great prices are great, but we're giving up too much. I can drive to five different Wallys from my home in from 12 to 25 minutes. Now they want to put one closer to me, so I can get to it in 5 minutes. I've seen too many stores go out of business, too many people that have lost anything. We may be getting better prices, but I'm not sure we can afford it.

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde (please, no homosexual radical agenda attacks): WalMart is a companya that knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

Just thoughts, friends.