I think if having Wal Mart in your community is an economic wash then the arguments against Wal Marts couldn't be clearer. 

1. Large corporations, which have to be run based on policies rather than on interpersonal relationships, de-personalize. Wal Mart undermines communities by getting rid of the hardware store owner who gives you advice, the butcher who knows your name and the kind of meat you like, etc. etc. You're sacrificing your community so some corporation somewhere can make a profit. Communities are already unraveling as people spend more time in front of their electronic acquaintances. Why undermine them further?

 2. There's an ownership argument here, too.  A guy who owns a pharmacy in a town is more invested in that town than a guy who's the assistant pharmacist at the local Wal Mart. Decisions that may have an economic affect on the town won't be made at corporate headquarters with one eye on the town's welfare.

3. Wal Mart drains money out of communities. A local hardware store owner gets a dollar from a customer and re-spends that dollar in the local economy. Wal Mart gets a dollar from a customer and transfers the money to corporate headquarters in Texas or wherever Wal Mart is headquartered. Local businesses spend profits locally, giant corporations spend profits in some other economy. If they overcompensate their senior executives, that dollar that got spent at the local Wal Mart could get re-spent in Paris or St. Croix or a vacation to see the Great Wall.

Americans treat lower prices as if any inconvenience, any sacrifice to the community is worth it in order to get them.  It's an odd behavior.

Posted at February 24, 2006 6:39 AM in response to Wal-Mart Data