Why I'm glad I am now an outsider in the world of retail

A recent story in the Star Tribune details how retails are suing the state of Maryland after their legistlature passed a law that would mandate large corporations (AKA Wal-mart et al) to afford health insurance coverage to their employees.

I'm sorry, but how socially irresponsible do these companies want to appear when they are suing the very governments who are attempting to look after the best interests of their constituents (and tax dollars -- those who work but aren't covered for medical insurance through their employer most often fall on taxpayers as a state or federal medicaid burden, right?) Honestly... health care is expensive. We live in America, where this stuff isn't socialized... its a part of doing (good, ethical) business... a practice in which Wal-Mart & co. is obviously not interested in engaging.

This is maddening to me in every sense of the word. At a time in my life when, in my master's program, all the articles and books I read tout how "companies who want a competitive edge need to realize that their people are their most important asset."
Why, then, does the giganto-retail industry not see that? I worked retail in varying aspects for many years. I have full knowledge and recognition that without the down-on-his luck guy with a couple of kids who pushes the carts back into the store, the immigrant woman restocking toothbrushes, and the teenagers unloading the trucks, those stores don't run. Customers get real pissed off. That spells lower profits. Now we're talking a language these corporate buffoons might understand.

This is a shameful time for me to say that I once thought I could make an impact in the retail industry -- that I could change that corporate infrastructure, could help these massive industry giants see the error of not valuing even the most miniscule contribution at the store level. But the absolute disregard of concern toward health care in the recent past is staggering to me. It absolutely blows my mind.

My only hope is that, as the 21st century rolls on the nature of our business culture ebbs out of a process economy and flows into a knowledge economy, grassroots initiatives, smart legislation, and external change agents like my peers and I can affect the kinds of change so desperately needed in the retail giant so ripe to be deflated.