The annual celebration of the American consumer economy -- the holiday shopping season -- is just underway, and Wal-Mart, the juggernaut of retailing, already seems to have claimed its first victim.

No, it's not the frequent faller. (But there is a sidebar on the design of cheap DVD players.)

To the company's critics, Wal-Mart points the way to a grim Darwinian world of bankrupt competitors, low wages, meager health benefits, jobs lost to imports, and devastated downtowns and rural areas across America.

"Wal-Mart is the logical end point and the future of the economy in a society whose pre-eminent value is getting the best deal," said Robert Reich.

Is it the end of retail?

Is Wal-Mart Good for America?