So it's clear you don't work at Wal-Mart. I'll say - for the sake of the argument - that you're a lawyer. If 30 million Americans went through law school and passed the bar in just this year alone, would you expect lawyers to start making $8.00 an hour? Because if supply and demand determine the pay for a give occupation, the level of skill required to perform a given job is irrelevant. Building upon the supposition that lawyers are so abundant they only make $8.00 an hour, at that point it would be a better idea to work at Wal-Mart, as you'll make the same amount of money there but avoid the horrors of student loans.
Only supply and demand matter, so you better go run and learn the most in demand skill around - graphic design and web development! You're right, cash register jobs are meant for high school kids and college dropouts. One day, you'll only have to explain to your grandchildren why you were so lazy you couldn't even go into the field of graphic design.
What happened to "you can be anything you want to be" and what happened to going into a field that makes you happy? What about Americans like my uncle, who suffer from mental and/or physical problems that make it hard for them to find employment in many different work environments? Would you tell those people that they don't deserve to earn a comfortable living because so many other Americans can do their job? Would you tell them that they can be easily replaced?
Here's the real question- if working at Wal-Mart is so easy, why do 70% of their employees quit within a year? I think you should simply go work there for a few months and report back. The bottom line is that working there isn't easy. The turnover rate is so high because they hire people who need jobs, take advantage of them by getting them to work hours that are too long, some of them off the clock, and only have of their employees have health care. Costco covers over 95% of their employees. Anyway, my point is that your comments seem to be pointed at backing up the claim that Wal-Mart is paying and treating their employees the way they deserve to be treated. And I think Americans deserve to make a living if they're working hard and putting in long hours. It's just the right thing to do, and it's also the right thing to do to put our economy back on track.