I certainly WILL blame Wal-Mart

Robert Reich has an Op-Ed today in NYT called "Don't Blame Wal-Mart" He argues that it's not Wal-Mart's fault we want cheap goods. True enough. But it IS Wal-Mart's fault for providing the cheap goods by gross and pervasive violations of labor law. The regulations are already there; it would be nice if the government would enforce them, but surely we can blame a company that violates labor laws for doing so, whether or not the government has the resources or interest in pursuing them for it.

Reich asks "But isn't Wal-Mart really being punished for our sins?" Um, Wal-Mart is not being punished for its own sins, much less for ours. And since when is seeking the lowest price a sin? It's capitalism, baby, and it's why the dogma of 'pure capitalism' is as awful as that other evil dogma we vanquished last century.

Reich is right to blame us, as citizens, for not debating how new regulations might force prices of goods to "reflect the full prices we have to pay as workers and citizens". That debate is one we're not likely to have during the current reality show "Crony Capitalism Gone Wild". But that's no excuse for letting Wal-Mart off the hook for ignoring the regulations we've already got. Responsible companies, at the very least, follow the law.

Of course, why should we expect corporations to follow the law when our government doesn't, and doesn't believe it has to. It's a funny kind of rule-of-law that seems only to apply to individuals acting as individuals, and then only selectively, to certain types of individuals.