In Defense of Wal-Mart

This is the most ethically challenging thing I have ever done. I despise Wal-Mart as a company (and their ethical judgement). However, the anti-Wal-Mart crowd has done a disservice to general principles. Starting with the positives: Wal-Mart is a company, a corporation. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. They import many of their goods from China because that is where the goods are produced for the least cost. That is the system of capitalism. And while they may play hardball with U.S. suppliers over the cost of their goods, they are doing nothing wrong in that respect. Any capitalist company tries to find the lowest cost providers. Currently, (until 27.5 percent tariffs are levied on all goods from China are introduced, which I think is a horrible decision and will hurt lower income Americans the most) the largest supplier of cheaply produced goods is China. In that respect, Wal-Mart breaks no ethical limits. IN their stores, their employees are paid low wages. Still no breaing of any laws, although ethically they should feel pressure to pay living wages. However, there are many legal issues in which Wal-Mart has stepped on the line (if not over it). Forced, unpaid overtime is illegal. Discrimination against people based on their gender, age and health is illegal. And for that the judicial system should impose sanctons. On the encouragement Wal-Mart provides for employees to go on public assistance, there is no legal barrier. However, there is an ethical barrier. They should not shirk on wages and benefits and promote the use of public assistance to adequately feed and provide health insurance for their employees. While their own labor standards may be questionable for labor law violations and questionable ethics in terms of employee compensation, there should be no doubt: Wal-Mart should be able to purchase goods from the lowest cost producer, whether in the U.S. or in China.