ABSTRACT
This chapter is ultimately about that model and how the currency of macroeconomics, economies of scale, and growth are acting as a smokescreen of sorts to the lived experiences of billions as communities, social relationships, and households are being bankrupted in the name of progress. Walmart merely provides me a way to give that business model a familiar face. At some level, this chapter is less about Walmart per se and more about what happens when giant firms begin rivaling affluent nations, particularly in terms of their respective global reach and influence. The term "welfare queen" is certainly fitting, as the largest beneficiaries of government support have incomes that would make a monarch blush. According to a 2005 Tampa Bay Times story, Walmart topped all companies operating in Florida in terms of the number of employees and family members eligible for Medicaid while coming in second for dependents enrolled in Florida Healthy Kids.
