Sam Walton built the WalMart name as, BUY & SELL AMERICAN. Remember those commercials! Well, now as everyone *complains* that jobs are going overseas and that manufacturing is no longer viable employment in the US:how could this be happening? I personally try to purchase everything from local businesses. These Mom & Pop stores are the places that support the local little leagues, support and sponser local causes. From what I have heard, once the Walmarts corner the market in particular areas, prices rise. I have also heard in some areas, crime is increased in areas where Walmarts have gone in. Everyone wants cheaper products made in China, where employees(slave laborers) get paid pennies. America will be next!

This is America people. You have the right to shop or not anywhere you choose. I am not a huge fan of Wal Mart, not for the reasons most have given but because I personally find them to be dirty and most of the emplyees are incredibly rude. I however am not offended by the fact that they exist because they do serve a purpose. I simply do my shopping elsewhere.

Whatever. I hope that every one of you that is happy to shop at Walmart is also happy footing the bill for their employees, who don't make enough to survive without welfare. Shop locally, people!!!!

I want to thank those of you who appreciate what Wal-mart does for the communities it serves. I have worked for this company for 8 years and have witnessed unbelievable acts of kindness and generosity that never get noticed/mentioned in the news or by it's critics. Many associates stay working for Wal-mart because they offer flexiblity in scheduling, good/competitive pay and benefits that are also competitive. Wal-mart continues to admit it's faults and is willing to listen/debate with critics who want to pack their Union coffers with initiation fees and bi-monthly dues. . .yes it is all about money isn't it??? Congratulations to all of the supporters of Wal-mart who vote weekly with their pocketbooks and leave the useless political jockeying to the few who need to find a real job. Thank you Wal-mart for all that you do that goes unnoticed and continuing the Sam Walton dream of providing goods at the lowest prices possible for the 100,000,000+ customers/week that shop your stores.

If you eliminated all of the Walmart jobs and replaced them with the previously displaced mom and pop company jobs you would end up with a huge net loss in jobs and probably even have a net loss in pay.

If any government money is actually spent for Medicaid because of poor Walmart benefits it would pail in comparison to the benefits needed to offset the net loss of jobs which would result if Walmart were eliminated.

I think we all have to choose between the Marxist philosophy (espoused by some who knock Walmart)that government should decide what we should be paid based on fairness and the Capitalist (Walmart) philosophy that each individual has the opportunity to go as far as he can in life based on his abilities combined with his willingness to work hard and make sacrifices (i.e. finish school, stay off of drugs, delay children until you can afford them, start at the bottom and work you way up, etc. etc. etc.). Marxist philosophy sounds good and is very seductive. Unfortunately, it rarely if ever works. Capitalism sounds harsh but offers everyone willing to work hard at least a reasonably good life.

I'd much rather have numerous modest paying Walmart jobs for all the people who need them then a few modest paying mom and pop jobs with the same number of people vying for them.

Go Walmart!

The people there are earning money, and from what others have already posted, they get decent benefits too.

You know, we hear a lot of people talk about "privacy" and "choice" and how we should let people do what they want.

These are some of the same jokers that are telling people that they shouldn't work or shop at Walmart.

If you don't like Walmart, then don't work or shop there. That's your right. Quit trying to stomp on other people's right to make that same choice. It's their decision, it's none of your damn business.

WELL I WORK FOR WALMART AND I THINK ITS THE BEST WE HAVE ALL SUPER MGRS AND THERES MORE WARE THAT COMES FROM EVERYONE HAS A BITCH ABOUT THERE WORK BUT ILL TELL YOU ALL THE WAL MART I WORK FOR IS GOT TO BE ONE OF A FEW THEN BECAUSE THERE NICE THEY GIVE TO THERE PEOPLE AND OTHERS IM SORRY IM NOT BYEING FROM OTHER STORES OR FROM SOME OFF THE WALL PLACE YEA ILL GIVE YOU ALL MORE MONEY BUT ISNT THAT EVERY WARE MMMMMMMMMMM WEVE GOT 2 MGR S AT MINE AND IF YOU NEED SOME ONE TO HEAR YOU THEY DO AND THEY KNOW IT THERE THE BEAT JOHN AND BRIAN GOOD JOB THATS ALL IVE GOT TO SAY MEDINA

No matter what education level or social level a person is at Walmart is a dependable, economical store. I love my name brands as much as the next person, but if there was a prada gallon of milk I still would buy the walmart brand. It is just plain practical. So lighten up on Walmart. I dont see anything wrong with people who work there; so get off your high horses people.

Apparently the "editors" of this blog are ALSO paid by Wal-Mart. Wake up America! Wal-Mart feeds on the very thing you all are writing about to defend. They want to squash small business - and have. They want to "confine" their employees so they have no choice but to stay - and they have. In every state they have opened up shop, the rate of citizens relying on public assistance for food stamps and free health care has risen dramatically. Lest we forget that as taxpayers, WE pay for that. Wal-Mart is making out like bandits. They also force their vendors to such price restrictions and bully them into lowering their prices that many of them don't even make a profit when they sell to Wal-Mart, but do, for fear of being "black-balled" by the Great and Powerful OZ. A publicity stunt like this is clearly going to work in Wal-Mart's favor. They didn't set up shop in a tent because they had the best interest of the American consumer in mind. They did it because they need good press right now and they will make money hand over fist. One day when we all have no choice about where to shop because Wal-Mart has monopolized the mass merchandising arena, see what a woeful tune you people will be singing because once they have American shoppers caught in their web of low prices without an option in sight --- up, up, up go the prices. Then where do we go? We have shopped our way right into a monopoly. Ahhh, the power of industrialism and corporate greed - isn't it Grand!!!!!

First, kudos to Isaac for his intelligent, thoughtful, and valid comments. Secondly, kudos to Walmart for their assistance to the post hurricane victims. Most of the negative comments about the motives for their assistance boggle my mind. Assistance is assistance, no matter what the underlying motive (if there is one) may be. I seriously doubt if the people impacted by the devastating hurricanes give a hoot about whether the products are made in the USA or not. I frequently shop at Walmart for certain items, because if I bought them at a strictly "made in the USA" store, there would be a serious dent in my budget. Whether one likes or hates Walmart, the bottom line is they employ thousands of workers, and pay them a wage that is commensurate with their skill level. Do away with Walmart and other similar corporations that collectively employ hundreds of thousands of Americans, and we might compete with France's unemployment rate which currently is 23 per cent. I wish everyone would re-read Isaac's comments. His diligence, not a government handout, kept him moving ahead and upward. That is, or should be, the American way. And again, congratulations to Walmart for their tent store!!

if it wasnt for walmart youd be stuck at the mercy of mom & pop stores that dont have what you need when you need it.

For all you people who complain about Wal-Mart and it's uneducated workers, would you rather they sit at home and live off state ade which you have to pay for or work for Wal-Mart? Also tell me of any other company you know of who predicts what their sales will be for the year and then takes everything the make over that and gives it to their employes as a bonus, in our store each employe gets any where from $600.00 to a $1000.00 bonus a year. I think that is very nice of the company.

Anything that helps Waveland and Bay Saint Louis people,is OK with me. My favorite part of the country, along the Miss. coast, with the great People, and the beautiful landscapes/homes is now gone! Our winter home in Chokoloskee, Fl got hit by Wilma. I think the people there would LOVE to have a Walmart Tent to get their needs taken care of. We're lucky, a insured RV, the local people, fishmen, mainly couldn't afford the insurance. I call it Our Poor Island. Small, compaired to Miss. and LA, but 50 people homeless. Same pain.

I am not saying that Walmart is a bad store,(they have decent products at a great price) however I worked for Target for 5 years and went from making $8.00 per hour to $12.35 per hour. I looked into Walmart when they came to my area and for the same job I was working at Target, they were only paying $10.50 per hour. At Target we had great medical benefits that only cost the employee $21.00 per month and matched up to 6% for our 401k. I will never say that Target was a great employer ( we worked long hard hours ) but you got great benefits and overtime. Tell me does Walmart have that ??? No all they care about is building bigger everytime .

If you dislike Wal-mart, then don't spend your hard-earned money there. We all have a choice and can determine the next path we take. Wal-mart is simply a beacon of capitalism and a free market economy, taking advantage of their resources, business savvy, and immense size. While you all continue bickering over this giant company, I'll be at Wal-mart stocking my home with the best China has to offer.

In Arkansas, Walmart is actually trying to get the minimum wage in this state increased. I have also heard about all the good that they do when anything happens. From Iraq to New Orleans to Mississippi to Alabama, Walmart is always trying to help people out. My husband works for a major grocery chain here and I can tell you that Walmart's pay is a little better and the healthcare is the same if not better.

The arguments posted before indicated that the WalMart tent store was providing the more expensive items over the cheaper items. The person who provided this tidbit also praised church groups, who were giving stuff out gratuit.

A more recent post indicates that Walmart "got there first" but provided no information. Were they selling stuff first or giving it away? I doubt they're still giving it away if they have a sales force in place.

All companies are built to make money. Walmart is no exception. Here in California (oh noes, evil Californians!) K-Mart is cheaper than Walmart. While it has less business, it's still cheaper if you want to compete on the basis of price.

You can argue that Walmart creates jobs. It also displaces other stores that lack the purchasing power to purchase items in bulk like Wal-Mart, along with the attracting power of a giant megastore with an optometrist, a McDonald's and a car maintainence place. Net it probably creates more jobs, but a bunch of little stores are likely to burn more cash on redundant things than a Wal-Mart store.

I don't work at Walmart and thus cannot comment on pay issues. But the news tidbits indicate that Walmart has subcontractors that are illegal aliens (not Wal-Mart's fault, or is it?), has had managers that forced workers to work overtime off the clock and hates unions to the core (namely closing a store in Canada that unionized, and resisting unionization efforts here). From the perspective of a cynical bystander the job of the union is to raise wages of it's workers. For obvious reasons any corporation will not like such a thing.

As for healthcare, Walmart has announced a "account" system where you can invest the money that goes towards your healthcare. It's probably cost-effective, at least.

The attitude of what an American company ought to give it's American workers is probably based on the car industry of America's peak years. Waybackwhen, GM and Ford were giving out pensions, a decent wage for skilled work and good health benefits.

The question everyone engaged in this Wal-Mart debate should answer is this: Should we be expecting a lot out of a company in the first place? Is a company's first duty to it's workers or to keeping the company operational to give those people a job, by various cost-optimizing means?

Excellent posts. Walmart is a God-send - Literally. Or at least the founder was. The recent hint by Corporate in the last few weeks suggesting maybe to start to hire younger and healthier workers. Well guess what? Figure out where a lot of those Walmart workers might end up back on? That's right. Probably back on State and Federal aid. Attn: Department Of Labor! Please take note. Places like Walmart have given a lot of people a second and third chance of being a productive member of society. And they have done a very good job of it. - In a way, this reminds me of a similar, or maybe different, kind of argument for not wanting Indian Casinos in some nearby communities. While at the same time, most of those communities could probably really use the jobs. But, criticism can also be a good thing. It helps to make the product that much better.

I would appreciate the walmart haters to stay out of walmart. Its too crowded as it is. I wonder why??? If all the shoppers are idiots for shopping there, and all the workers idiots for working there.... my town must be 100% idiots!

Wow, that is great. I am not a big Walmart fan but they have truly done something great here. A little something can make a person feel good and this is what Walmart is providing. Those people need help. Now, you got to wonder, why hasn't FEMA set something up like this to help the victims?

Wal-Mart set up shop in a tent because their store has been destroyed by the hurricane like everything else. It's not a publicity stunt it's temporary headquarters for the local wal-mart. It's not a conspiracy, there are no aliens of men in black. It's just a business doing what businesses do - operating the best it can under the circumstances. Lay off the crystals and the ouija boards and at least congratulate them for their initiative. 'Nuff said.

I have never read so much drivel in all my life as is generated about Walmart. Let's get it straight. Walmart is in the business of making money ; that's the way it should be. They have absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITY to take care of you or me. 100% of all employees work there voluntarily. Remember too that governments demand full time workers get certain benefits not Walmart. If these work rules were not placed on employers like Walmart they could afford to pay much higher wages and benefits as wellt. Just remember Walmart is not a government agency and no one who shops or works there does so by force but rather by choice; including me. l

maybe Walmart could teach the government something about setting up "help" for the victims.. Way to go Walmart - and thank you for being there.....

The manager of the store featured in this video is real living proof of the brainwashing that Wal-Mart is often said to be engaging in on employees and customers.

Good God, get a clue to life!

Do yourself a favor people and pick up a copy of Bill Quinn's excellent book, "How Wal-Mart is Destroying America."

CHOICE It's all about choice. Don't like it? Don't shop there! Don't like the pay? Don't work there! Don't want overseas goods? Don't buy them. (If you can even find American made products) Freedom of choice. STOP COMPLAINING