Another Reason I Hate Wal*Mart

As if I really needed another reason to hate Wal*Mart, they handed me one.

Wal*Mart recently had staff meetings with its Managers (salaried) and Department Supervisors (hourly employees) regarding the November elections. Their message? If you vote Democratic, you will lose your jobs. No, they didn't say that directly, but the implication was all to evident with the tone. Wal*Mart has been ill-treating their employees for years. They do everything from limiting health care to making them work just under 40 hours so they won't have to provide benefits. Wal*Mart is an evil company, a clear representation of the fear-mongering and corporate hijacking of America that has been heightened over the last eight years.

I avoid shopping there. I stopped shopping there years ago when I learned of their practices. This was right around the time I knew that the majority of their products are made in China. It was also around the time that I became unemployed and realized Wal*Mart squeezed me from my corporate job with their insistence on destroying the profit margin of their suppliers.

Today in America, especially with this recession, it becomes somewhat impossible for families to not be enticed by the "everyday low prices" of this monolithic megastore. School starts in three weeks for my children and the lure of shiny new pencils and book bags will drag many parents into big blue. Not me. I do most of my household shopping at Target. They may be a big corporate giant also, but they are a little more humane in their practices.

Wal*Mart is the nation's largest employer as well as the nation's largest retailer. It is Wal*Mart and their toy war of 2003 that forced iconic FAO Schwartz to close down. That was a sad year for me because I enjoyed seeing the giant-sized teddy bear at the store in Kansas City. Wal*Mart has destroyed the mom-and-pop retailers of America. And now they want to destroy freedom.

It is becoming increasingly evident that the Republican powers-that-be want to maintain their iron-clad grip on America. It is also becoming increasingly evident that everyday Americans are standing up and saying "enough is enough" and we want change. It is amazing the groundswell of ordinary people who are organizing grassroots efforts to get-out-the-vote for the Democratic Party. People are tired. They've had enough of the fear-mongering, race-bating, religion-choking, media-brainwashing of the neocons.

This consumer, this mother, this citizen sees right through Wal*Mart. As one of their employees was quoted in the Wall Street Journal article, "they are telling me how to vote." Since when is that legal in America. I hope people wake up. I won't be doing my back-to-school shopping at Wal*Mart.

(link to the article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121755649066303381.html)