Should "the right to buy" be enshrined in the Constitution?

Wal Mart Ad in Washington Post Weekend Section, October 8, 2005.

Above is the ad that Dan Smith referenced in his email reprinted below.

The online magazine Black Commentator has excellent articles about Wal-Mart that are relevant to this discussion as well as the imagery of the ad. Frequently, Wal-Mart makes out opposition to be a white-lefty thing that oppresses lower-income consumers often people-of-color.

Ironically, using the Marxist sociological concept of "producing spaces", Wal-Mart is "producing" its customer base, a lower income demographic by continually pressing down U.S. wages by (1) sourcing more and more of its products from overseas, especially China, where wage rates are 1/20 to 1/50 of wages in the United States; and (2) by destroying independent and chain retail that either supports entrepreneurial development or union-scale livable wages. This comes at great cost to the well-being of millions of Americans... (See "Wal Mart Race to the Bottom," originally from The Nation.)

Two Chinese garment workers, Ping Qiu-xia, 20, and Yu Jian-fen, 22, both from Sichuan province, work on an order for Wal-Mart in Germany at the Gladpeer Garment Factory in the southern Chinese city of Dongguan, about 60 miles northwest of Hong Kong. (Tammy Wong / For the Times) May 27, 2003
The articles from Black Commentator are:

-- Wal Mart and the Economic Destruction of Black Communities
-- Remaking America in WalMart's Image
-- Wal Mart Threat Fuels New Urban Politics
-- Why Black Leaders are Stone Silent on Walmart

Michael Hardaway, a Wal-Mart store manager, high-fives employees during the grand opening of the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza store. LA Times photo.

Also see the special LA Times series "The Wal Mart Effect" (ironically when you search the LA Times website for this series, a sponsored ad pops up from Sam's Club...) which is particularly good at explaining how Wal Mart integrates countries possessing lower cost manufacturing capabilities into their world-wide supply chain and the impact.

First of Three Parts: An Empire Built on Bargains Remakes the Working World, November 23, 2003
By Abigail Goldman and Nancy Cleeland
Wal-Mart is so powerful that it moves the economies of entire countries, bringing profit and pain. The prices can’t be beat, but the wages can.

Rob Reed, Stiches Company. After demands for lower prices squeezed his profit, he had to close down the factory. LA Times photo.

Second of Three Parts: Scouring the Globe to Give Shoppers an $8.63 Polo Shirt, November 24, 2003
By Nancy Cleeland, Evelyn Iritani and Tyler Marshall
Wal-Mart, once a believer in buying American, extracts ever lower prices from 10,000 suppliers worldwide. Workers struggle to keep pace.

Honduran employees are under pressure to work faster by managers struggling to meet Wal-Mart requests. LA Times photo.

Seams Start to Unravel, November 24, 2003
By Nancy Cleeland
Sewing contractor Rob Reed shut down his Commerce factory this summer after 17 years, laying off 100 workers and adding his name to a long list of bankrupt U.S. manufacturers.

Audit Stance Generates Controversy, November 24, 2003
By Evelyn Iritani and Nancy Cleeland
Safe working conditions. Reasonable hours. No child labor.

Third of three parts: Grocery Unions Battle to Stop Invasion of the Giant Stores, November 25, 2003
By Nancy Cleeland and Abigail Goldman
Wal-Mart plans to open 40 of its nonunion Supercenters in California. Labor is fighting the expected onslaught, but the big retailer rarely concedes defeat.

Bobbie Brooks is one of the clothing brands made at a Honduran factory. LA Times photo.

Kelly Gray, a mother of five, lost her job as a Raley's supermarket clerk after Wal-Mart's expansion into the grocery business in Las Vegas led Raley's to shut 18 stores and lay off 1,400 workers.(Genaro Molina / LAT)