I thought that the special was quite well-reported, and that it gave both sides of the story. I was amazed at the access that they were able to get in Bentonville, by talking to CEO Lee Scott and the former CEO (I can't recall his name) who now heads the international expansion efforts, and in China. In some ways, it does seem like a cult--the pep rallies, the philosophies and photos of Sam Walton lining the halls and the obsessive nature of the managers.

I think the excuse of making their employees pay their own health care so that they can be responsible for their budgets is bullshit. They are tightwads, pure and simple. They are unwilling to pay their "associates" a fair wage, especially if they are women. And they want their employees only to make enough to shop at their "company store."

I think I did like the scenes in China the best. Just the exotic food made that store seem way more interesting than Wal-Marts here.

I work for a trade association, and our members have complained about Wal-Mart for years.

I saw the 2 hour presentation, and little was disclosed to me that I was not already aware of.

What continues to bother me about the attacks on Wal-Mart are the accusations made about how the employees are treated.

If I am not mistaken, slaves were freed many, many years ago. No one in this country is forced to work for any company, if he or she does not choose to.

It is called the free market mechanism. Work where the best pay and benefits are available. And if you do not like what is offered, get some education, and make yourself more marketable.

Wal-Mart along with the Internet, in my opinion, have been the two components that have kept a cap on inflated prices, and will continue to do so.

I know many manufacturers who have accounts with Wal-Mart. They have told me that they are lucky to come out with their underwear after having a meeting with them. In fact, one told me that he simply breaks even on Wal-Mart, but the account allows him to produce products in huge quantities, bringing the per piece price down, so that he can make bigger margins on his other accounts.

As noted in the special, when Wal-Mart enters a community, it uses the number of jobs that it can bring as an incentive to persuade the community to let it build stores. No matter what you say about the company, this is one of the largest employers in the nation and it's making its profits for a few reasons: 1) On the backs of its employees/associates by cheating them of health care benefits, 2) Sending manufacturing jobs overseas by forcing its suppliers to open shop in China and elsewhere, 3) Dictating to its suppliers how they should market and 4) Building more and more stores. To me, these are some of the most heinous features of capitalism--it's like they're supplying crack to our communities. People are feeding on the cheapness of what they're selling.

Even with education, Americans are seeing challenges to their ability to put food on the table. The outsourcing trend is moving our jobs to where the wages are much lower than employers can pay here. This is going to be one of the challenges of this century for Americans.

The good part about Wal-Mart is that they do enable Americans to have a lower cost of living. But we have to examine the long-term costs of this low-cost living to our culture and communities.

Reading the comments by Chuck Suritz reveals one of the problems with the world today. People's perception of Wal-Mart and the way people live today.

"If I am not mistaken, slaves were freed many, many years ago. No one in this country is forced to work for any company, if he or she does not choose to.
It is called the free market mechanism. Work where the best pay and benefits are available. And if you do not like what is offered, get some education, and make yourself more marketable."

I guess Chuck doesn't live in my world. I see slaves every day. These slaves don't wear chains, but they ARE slaves. People take some jobs because the rich, lazy landlords force them to. People should be able to hold out (what the hell happened to the dole?) until something they actually care about opens up. Funny how much better people work when you pay them what they are worth and give them a job they actually care about.

The other falacy is that a little education clears all problems. I have FOUR degrees (B.A.s, Masters, & PhD) and when the university downsized you had people with doctorates in the streets with no job and no prospects. Oh and some DID end up at Wal-Mart. So, I guess if 2,3 or 4 degrees doesn't make you marketable nothing does.

So lets increase access to unemployment and the social "safety net" so people don't have to grovel for the pennies Wal-Mart begrudgingly hands out. I'm sure there are better ways for the educated to build lives for themselves and benefit more people than pushing carts at the Wal-Mart.

Chuck's comments above are astounding!!!

"So lets increase access to unemployment and the social "safety net" so people don't have to grovel for the pennies Wal-Mart begrudgingly hands out."

another gem is this one! " People should be able to hold out (what the hell happened to the dole?) until something they actually care about opens up."

Can this letter be for real? Since when is it a good idea to let "the masses" sit around til something they "care about" opens up?

Where does this "The Government owes me a handout" mentality end?

Its high time this country starts holding people accountable for their own lives and welfare. I think i speak for many when i say i'm sick and tired of 40 years of welfare paying people not to work and to have more kids. Glad it has gone away for the most part.

I thought the letter you hated was good Bii Gabbard. Wow, did you read it?

Where we live, there are a good many educated people with no job and no hope of finding one.

Now, I work for a University, just like the writer above, but I was spared the axe (my department got gutted, but that is another story). I took a massive pay cut though. My husband wasn't so lucky. He has a Masters degree and all he could get was either Wal-Mart or McDonalds jobs. NO ONE else was even hiring.

Luckily for us, we had a savings (because we had 2 good jobs) or we could have been in real trouble. Someone finally hired him (at low wages) to do something not so useless as Wal-Mart. Trust me Wal-Mart wastes your time and energy. My hubby was the most happy, enthusiastic person I had ever met. He worked hard and cared about his work. Then all the jobs went away.

Now Bii, I ask you. We did everything we were "supposed" to do, according to you Republicans. We went out, worked hard, earned our degrees, saved, played by the rules, paid our taxes. We waited until we got married, had a savings and a home before we had kids. What happens when the jobs go away? WE don't own the banks or utilities or infrastructure. What accountability does the government have for people who play by the rules? They don't "owe" us anything? Hah!

See Bii, I used to believe the same crap when we had all that money pouring into our house. We were so grand, "WE follow the rules,not those welfare slackers". That was until the manure hit the fan and we were in bad shape.

Then welfare didn't sound so bad.

When my husband came in exhausted after having wasted his day working for beans, depressed, and we looked at each other and thought "how are we going to make it through the month?" He couldn't quit because we have to keep the house, feed the kids.

I used to be ignorant like you. Until my world fell apart.

I'm glad you are doing so well. It is obvious you have no clue about how things in the world are going.

I would support welfare reform, if it ever came to a vote. Living wage too.

I think I speak for many when I say, that I am tired of people who don't know how hard life is when there is no money can be.

i thought the south park episode about wal-mart made some of the best points of all. remember the end (if you happened to have seen it) where they find the evil head of wal-mart, and the kids tell him, "we have to find the heart of wal-mart and destroy it. only then can we be free." so the evil ceo says, 'oh, okay. look over there. that's where you'll find the evil heart of wal-mart." so the kids look over there, and of course, what they see is....a mirror.
i actually think another problem with wal-mart is actually a problem of human nature itself--we just want to glut our homes with more and more and more and more crap that honestly--we just don't need, and half the time don't even want. wal-mart is a symptom, as well as a problem.

The comment by Chuck Suritz was born out of sheer ignorance. There was once a day and age where companies had a responsibility to their employees. All you have to do is read the comments by Chuck Suritz, "I learned very little in the two hour presentation I wasn't aware of". You can also see the condescending way Chuck Suritz writes, as if "he is going to explain to us so we understand". I am sure Chuck Suritz is another lucky white man, who is waiting to collect his inheritance from his well off mommy, and probably has a 30 year old son who still lives at home without an education and feeds off of his parents. Yet, this is the man who wants to "share his opinions" with you about the free market, when he never has made his way in it.

I have to agree George, Chuck Suritz is an idiot! Your comments were right on the money!

Hello everyone, I actually need to obatin a copy of the documentary can anyone help? thanks!

PLEASE HELP ME GET A COPY OF THE AGE OF WAL-MART.

TEN YEARS AGO I HAD A VISION HOW TO HELP WAL-MART'S ASSOCIATES AND FUTURE COMMUNITIES WHERE THEY PLAN TO DO BUSINESS. NO COST FOR WAL-MART!

HOW CAN I CONTACT LEE SCOTT OR OTHER U.S. DIRECTORS?
THANK YOU, EILEEN