I haven't seen any hard evidence either way of late so I don't know anything for sure. I would tend to be skeptical - even the best employers are being squeezed on health care and have had to funnel more of the costs to their employees so I would find it hard to believe that WalMart is doing anything major in that respect. It's quite easy as we know to put a positive spin on things that aren't really that positive. I feel the same way about their philanthropic efforts - mostly band-aid goodwill measures to make people feel kindly toward them. But I'd feel better about them if they built fewer parks or contributed to fewer charities and simply paid their employees a decent wage, sold quality products and didn't support overseas sweatshops.

Certainly WalMart isn't the only threat to communities, downtowns, local businesses, etc. They are, however, one of the biggest and best-financed threats. And of course, it's very true that there are plenty of people who are unaware of the negative aspects of the company and I don't slam those people for shopping there because they don't know any better.

I try not to slam anyone but I do think that those of us who DO recognize the problems have somewhat of an obligation to try to refrain from supporting them as well as let those who are unaware know what they're supporting. I too come from an area that is pretty much non-union - not here in California but in Vermont where I used to live. I saw the impact that a WalMart had when it was put up across the river in New Hampshire and it was and is rather grim. And in addition to undercutting so many local businesses and putting them under, the jobs created were virtually all at the lowest level - upper management is all from elsewhere. Though the area is non-union, the non WalMart jobs did tend to pay better but the companies couldn't compete with the monster.

I don't mean to go on and on but I do want to say one more thing. My single biggest political concern is poverty. Certainly there are many major issues but I think poverty contributes to every single one of them and is a critical and moral issue in this country. I've been poor. And though poverty is the rationale most often given for shopping at WalMart, it's actually an action that does a great deal to contribute to the problem. I don't like to see poor people fleeced and though they feel they're getting more for their money at WalMart, in many ways and in a collective sense, they're actually getting less.

Peace to you and thanks for putting up with my long-windedness!