I found a lvery interesting article entitled "Walmart: Still Unstainable." It addresses Wal-mart and the major effects that it has on small towns, but it also shines light on Wal-Mart as a corporation as a whole. It shows how Wal-Mart as a "bad guy corporation" that demands lower prices from their suppliers which actually puts burdens on the workers who have to make the products. It points out rights violations that are found in the foreign factories that make the Wal-Mart products, such as locked bathrooms, low wages, denial of health care, pregnancy tests, etc. The idea that Wal-Mart products were being made in sweat-shops violating human rights really disturbed me. Another interesting prespective about the corporation that the author's Garcia and Buffa depicted is the land usage and the role that it plays in the environment. It's a large store so it takes up alot of space which in turn the city or town has to place it on the outskirts of town. This is where the corporation contributes to the environment in a negative way. Individuals who shop at Wal-Mart will have to drive long distances to the store creating more pollution.
The article is great and puts the Wal-Mart corporation in persepective. "Bad Guy or Good Guy"? You be the judge....the link is http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/27/4167/
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An excellent point. I know that Wal-Mart has actually forced some its its suppliers to shift thier operations overseas to reduce production costs.
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