And my social conscience doesn't get tossed out the window when it becomes inconvenient. I'm well aware of what it's like to be poor - I have been extremely so in my life, to the point of doing things like chopping up furniture to burn in my wood stove. Even so, shopping at places like WalMart has never been something I've chosen to do because I cannot in good conscience reconcile it.

If you want to see that as a snide remark, that's unfortunate. It's not. The truth is, we make choices and the choices we make impact more than ourselves. Of course your food stamps go farther at WalMart - because the company undercuts the prices of local business, driving them out of competition. Because thay don't pay decent wages or offer decent benefits. You may see it as your only option but in reality, by shopping there, you're making it a self-fulfilling prophecy - there will be no other place to shop if no one supports local business.

When hundreds and thousands of people make choices based only on their situation and not on the long-term consequences of their actions, it's short-sighted and selfish.