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It employs one of every 115 American workers. If it were a nation-state, it would be one of the world's top twenty economies. With yearly sales of nearly $288 billion and an average employee wage of $8 an hour, Wal-Mart represents an unprecedented and perhaps unstoppable force in capitalism. And yet few American corporations have evoked the same level of ire.
The United States of Wal-Mart is an irreverent, hard-hitting examination of how Sam Walton's empire has infiltrated not just the geography of America, but also its consciousness. Pitched battles between economic progress and quality of life, between national homogeneity and the preservation of regional identity, and between low prices and the dignity of the American worker are coalescing into an all-out war to define our modern era. With wryness, penetrating intelligence, and a healthy respect for the irony inherent in American capitalism, Dicker discovers that while Wal-Mart may be providing consumers with cheap goods and plentiful jobs, it is also breeding a culture of discontent.
The United States of Wal-Mart is an irreverent, hard-hitting examination of how Sam Walton's empire has infiltrated not just the geography of America, but also its consciousness. Pitched battles between economic progress and quality of life, between national homogeneity and the preservation of regional identity, and between low prices and the dignity of the American worker are coalescing into an all-out war to define our modern era. With wryness, penetrating intelligence, and a healthy respect for the irony inherent in American capitalism, Dicker discovers that while Wal-Mart may be providing consumers with cheap goods and plentiful jobs, it is also breeding a culture of discontent.