iccky

When you buy a product you buy more then that product. You also show your support for the company that produces that product, the company that sells that product and the way they do business. That's what ws behind the whole Made in the USA campaign. You pay a little more, but you get the added value of supporting American workers. You also need to realize where that money goes after you pay for the product. At Walmart, it goes to Bentonville Arkansas and the already faboulously rich Walton family. If you shop at a local store, or even a local chain, it stays in your area.

That's why I try not to shop at Walmart, and won't bank at Walmart. I may pay a little more, but I'll get more too, it the form of supporting decent wages for workers, labor unions (pleas don't take this comment and turn this thread into a union debate), fighting sweatshops, supporting my local economy and generally making the world more like the one I want to live in. If you don't value these things, then you're right, there's no reason no to shop at Walmart.

Back on topic though, I actually on't think this would be a terrible thing. Most banking is already done through big national or munti-national corporations, and there's very little labor in the banking industry for Walmart to exploit. On one hand it would concentrate even more power in teh hands of a single corporate entity, something that very muich scares me. On the other hand it could help bring banking services to very much underserved areas, which would help the even greater scourge of check cashing places and "payday loans" (don't even get me started on rent to own places). So I dunno.