The attack on Wal-Mart

Liza Featherstone has written a piece for Salon (free day pass) attacking Wal-Mart.Some of the commentary is quite funny:

City dwellers are also more likely to be offended by Wal-Mart, sometimes for social justice reasons, as in the massive sex discrimination lawsuit, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart, the largest civil rights class action in history, which charged the retailer with discrimination in pay, promotions and training. Urban residents also often oppose Wal-Mart out of concern over low wages, or for snobbish reasons: Wal-Mart sells ugly, cheap stuff, brings more poor folks to the neighborhood to shop and doesn't belong in a cosmopolitan environment. It's also, compared with the lonely exurbs, or rural America, relatively easy to organize and inform people who live in cities: They have plenty of civic institutions and consume media avidly. To win them over, Wal-Mart may have to make changes.

Many city folk don't have a Wal-Mart near them because the politicians have zoned Wal-Mart out.They'd probably like to get low prices like everyone else but are denied the choice.Liza's comment on bringing poor people to the neighborhood is a hoot.Urban areas where Wal-Mart isn't, is the land of Section 8 housing.