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I just don’t get the whole “Wal-Mart = Evil” paradigm. They’ll soon be breaking ground on a new Super Wal-Mart in my town and I couldn’t be more excited. But to hear the protests and absolute cries of outrage, you’d think it was the coming of the Antichrist.

Ok. I understand that Wal-Mart has some challenges. There are charges of unsatisfactory managment principles and employee mistreatment, but can we not expect that? I mean ,1.5 million employees, people. They’re basically running their own nation spread around nine countries.

Sam Walton’s goal was to lower the cost of living for every American. I believe it was around when he was awarded the President’s Medal of Freedom (the nation’s highest civilian award) in 1992 that he changed his goal to include all people of the world. Now, I understand that it’s tough on the local Mom and Pop stores in a city when Wal-Mart comes in with its lofty goals. But, come on. They are lowering the cost of living for every person in that city. They are putting precious after-tax dollars back in peoples pockets. And who statistically stands to benefit the most? The folks with the fewest after-tax dollars to spend.

According to Clark Howard in his book, Clark’s Big Book of Bargains, the average savings on groceries in Super Wal-Mart over the Albertson’s and Kroger’s competition is 38-43%! For a family with a $500 per month grocrey budget, that’s $215 per month. If that family put that money into a growth mutual fund under a Roth IRA averaging a 12% annual return, they would have over $1 million tax-free dollars in less than 33 years. That right. You heard it here first. Wal-Mart is making us all millionaires.

I recently had lunch with a friend who is raising a family of 4, soon to be 5, on a budget. She is very excited about the new Super Wal-Mart because she knows how much it will help her money challenges. I’m fine with admitting that Wal-Mart is not perfect, but they figured out how to save us more of our own money than anyone. Can we not help them figure out how to be better at their challenges? I just don’t see marching around with cardboard signs and angry buttons as a solution.