Not a lot of people know this. But there are a growing few in today's consumer-driven society who are putting a stop, if not to Wal Mart, than to spending their own hard-earned money there. They are making a statement.

Trying to stop college kids from going to Wal Mart is sort of like trying to ask water to flow uphill. Where else would we hang out? Get cheap crap? Buy pointless stuff at 2 am? Get all our clothes, grocery, and pharmacy items at the same place? See and be seen?

I thought it was hard, too. But it's really not that difficult. Wal Mart does not have anything that Target, Price Cutter, Dillon's, and other super and grocery stores don't have. And, contrary to the popular belief that WalMart is cheaper, WalMart is only cheaper than Target on SOME items. On others, Target is cheaper. It's six of one, half a dozen the other. I gave up WalMart gradually, but I haven't shopped there now for over 2 years and I'm amazed at how easy it is to pick stuff up at other stores that carry the same goods, often at better quality.

So why is Wal Mart bad? First off, because of blatant human rights violations, both home in the US and abroad. So you might save a buck. Is it worth it to know that by saving yourself a buck, you cost some woman in Bangladesh her dinner? Her day's wages? Her happiness and health? 

Am I exaggerating? Find out for yourself. WalMart has records of blatant disregard for labor laws in the U.S. From rampant sexism against women managers, to forced overtime with no pay, to denying workers breaks on long shifts, to violating child labor laws, WalMart has done it all.Overseas, it is worse. Laws don't protect workers there, and WalMart takes advantage of it. Women locked in rooms with no bathrooms. Women unable to leave company grounds, where they must work 20-hour days and sleep in work dormitories. Children working. Men and women working under grueling conditions for pennies an hour. Their children starving at home from lack of an adequate family income.

Sure, WalMart gives to communities and to schools. But what it gives publicly is a fraction of what it takes. They just hope we are too dumb to see it.

So, research your stores before you spend money there. Where you spend your money says something. It says something about you and who you are, about the type of behaviors you will stand for and the beliefs you have about the rights of your fellow men. Do you research. Then decide. 

www.wakeupwalmart.com