I simply had to write something about Wal-Mart

And the occasion has been given to me by a recent article in the New York Times by Joseph Nocera, who has brought up a couple of important points that we liberals tend to ignore or sweep under the rug. True, Wal-Mart's sheer size is something to frown upon, if nothing else because of the enormous, supra-national, economic power that it engenders. Consider that it is now the second largest company in the US (interestingly, after Exxon Mobil), employing more people than the US Army.

The typical things to worry (much) about, when it comes to Wal-Mart, include its low wages (less than $10/hr), abysmal benefits (so much so that some of its employees have to rely on food stamps and Medicaid -- the government's health program for poor, which incidentally means that some of Wal-Mart's "savings" for its customers are paid for by the rest of us in the form of taxes), and its notorious union-busting policies. Indeed, recently an internal Wal-Mart memo has been leaked to the NYT, and it read in part: "[we might start] discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart," in order to cut on the residual health care expenses. Never mind that such practice would be illegal, besides being obviously unethical.

For all this, however, Nocera points out that Wal-Mart has -- for the most part -- played the game by the rules. It rarely engages in outright illegal practices, though its whole ethos is, again, way beyond the ethical borderline for a supposedly civilized country like the US (and Wal-Mart knows it, which is why it engages in sleazy tv and radio commercials to defend its social record, even supporting National Public Radio!). In fact, Robert Reich, a former labor secretary under Bill Clinton and currently at Brandeis University, said that "If we are not happy about the results, then the real question we ought to be asking ourselves is whether we should be changing the rules. Wal-Mart is an invitation to have that debate."

Indeed, Americans -- unlike Europeans (just recall the housewives' boycotts in France and Italy to bring down the price of red meat) -- simply can't seem to be able to pass a bargain, regardless of the fact that their neighbors and community suffer from low wages and closure of local shops. Although surely more labor-friendly and better anti-trust legislation would help, ultimately we could drive Wal-Mart out of town in a matter of weeks simply by not showing up (the same, of course, has been said about wars).

We have indeed met the enemy, and -- alas -- it truly is us.