Time for a bit of Wal-Mart Bashing...

So someone, identifying themselves as anonymous, though I have a pretty good idea of who it is, quoted to me from the Mises Institute about how wonderful Wal-Mart has been for the economy. I responded, and noted how un-backed-up (is that a word?) the article was.

I was just perusing online and found this article on wikipedia, and article that uses actual citations for its research.

Here are some examples of the evils of Wal-Mart:

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton once said, "I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful, but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment." You go, Sam!

Additionally, Wal-Mart's low wages have indirectly increased the costs of many social services programs, as many of its employees are forced to apply for government-funded health care, food stamps, and other programs to make ends meet. A 2004 estimate of the costs to California taxpayers was approximately $82 million per year. A report by U.S. Democratic Congressman George Miller cited that a 200-employee Wal-Mart store may indirectly cost federal taxpayers $420,750 to finance free-lunch and health-care programs for children of low-income Wal-Mart employees, tax credits for low-income families, and similar programs.

Then there's this. And this. And this. And don't forget about health insurance, which leads back up to the health-care program for children quote above... Or "imports and globalization... Oh, and here's a great quote from here, something not often brought up:

In the mid-1990s, Wal-Mart had a "Buy American" campaign, which was eventually cancelled. By 2005, about 60% of Wal-Mart's merchandise was imported, compared to 6% in 1995.

Funny, that. A "Buy American" campaign! And according to that article, 

In 2004, Wal-Mart spent $18 billion on Chinese products alone, and if it were an individual economy, the company would rank as China's eighth largest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia, and Canada.

Funny that too, huh?

Anyway, so yeah. Wal-Mart sucks!