nightflier,

Just a couple general remarks and an exercise to help you figure this out for yourself:

(1) Only a fool would take a philosophy professor seriously. Philosophy professors are some of the stupidest people alive, and philosophy classes are some of the few classes that actually make you dumber after you've taken them.

(2) You're analysis of Wal-Mart and Best Buy reads like it came strait off Ward Churchill's website. Instead of taking philosophy classes in college, maybe you should have taken classes that actually help you think for yourself.

(3) Home Work Assignmen: Almost all economic phenomena can be explained in terms of supply and demand. (A) Try to explain the economic success of the Best Buy and Wal-Mart models in terms of supply and demand. (B) Before opening its doors on January 27, the Evergreen Park Wal-Mart, located just one block south of the Chicago city limits, received over 25,000 applications for 325 jobs, 90% of which came from Chicago residents. Again, in terms of supply and demand, explain why so many people applied for so few jobs at the Evergreen Park Wal-Mart. (C) As measured by free-market economics, is Evergreen Park better or worse off with the addition of a new Wal-Mart store? Explain why.