Wake-up Wal-Mart

I have no idea if people have posted about the ethical dilemma of shopping at Wal-Mart before, but ethicsdaily has just brought this issue back to my attention. I have not seen these ads on TV yet, but apparently there are advertisements featuring Atlanta pastors urging Wal-Mart to take up its moral obligation to be a better neighbor given the immense amount of wealth that is has accrued. One of the pastors, Charlie Johnson, was even on of my McAfee professors. Check out that advertisement here.

I have heard about the simple atrocities that Wal-Mart commits many times before--failure to give a living wage, completely inadequate access to health care, conditions that only perpetuate the cycle of poverty, keeping workers at part-time status to avoid benefits...the list goes on and on. Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickel and Dimed provides a great look into the world of gainful employment at Wal-Mart, and has forever made me cringe when I think about the big-box store. But I had never thought about, until this new advertisement, the ethical implications of Wal-Mart's involvement with China. With 70% of Wal-Marts products being produced in China, the stats show that Wal-Mart serves as China's 8th biggest trading partner
--having a hand in direct and indirect human rights violations. (Check out www.wakeupwalmart.com for the sources of these statistics.)

So...now it is Christmas. Two of my Sunday School classes have just collected about $1000 for a refugee family of 11. I sit here wondering how to make this money go as far as it can for this family who has seen so much tragedy and poverty. We plan on taking the family shopping, so that the children can have the joy of picking out their very own things that have not been passed down, borrowed, or purchased from a Goodwill store. It makes sense to take the family to Wal-Mart where the prices really cannot be beat, and great toys and cute clothes are plentiful. And the dilemma is not just with this family...when I have to use the church's budget to purchase things for ministry, trying to make every dollar count Or, when I want to buy basic supplies for my own home, and hate to spend much money on such products. Outrage at Wal-Mart would be so much easier if there was a better alternative to the convenience and prices, wouldn't it?

Isn't it funny that those near the poverty level--those who scrape each nickel and dime together to get through life--are the ones who benefit most from the prices at Wal-Mart? Aren't these are the same people who are tethered to the poverty level because of their Wal-Mart-induced work conditions?

Thoughts?