AG: Wal-Mart is the biggest corporation in the world. It is the maker of the new business paradigm of driving down costs in a ruthless way as a means of making profit. It's destructive to American community life, to American workers and their families, not just because of what Wal-Mart pays and how Wal-Mart operates in those towns, but because it provides a model for other businesses to be successful as the biggest and best business. It uses its size to its advantage in so many different ways that are destructive, from the damage it does to our small towns by putting small retailers out of business wherever it goes, to the abuse of taxpayer-funded health and other benefit programs so that Wal-Mart can shield its profits.

GX: What is Wal-Mart Watch?

AG: Our job is to catalyze something that resides between a campaign and movement to get Wal-Mart to change its business practices and to challenge the business model that is so problematic. We act as a facilitator to pull together different parts of the movement that already exist. We educate everybody on all topics around Wal-Mart, but also energizing them to approach Wal-Mart on their own topic.

We are actively telling a new Wal-Mart story every day in the media. We organized "Higher Expectations Week," which garnered 6,000 house parties and 1,000 other events such as town hall meetings, community screenings of "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," and in-store actions.

The key is the small-business piece. We're working to convince our non-natural allies that we're not a bunch of commies.

GX: What are Wal-Mart Watch's strategy and campaign goals?

AG: If we can make an example of Wal-Mart in a positive way, by showing that Wal-Mart can exist and make money as a good community actor and as a good corporate citizen, then other companies will follow suit. If Wal-Mart follows through with the environmental changes they announced, it is more than any other corporation said they were going to do. We can also show Wal-Mart as a bad example and show others that if you step out of line, you too can get punished. The last piece is to alleviate pressure on responsible employers. We have to take a hard look at the monopoly power of the company. We have to build in a business angle.

By communicating a new Wal-Mart story to the public, we are re-branding them. We're changing the way the public views them, and that causes the company an enormous amount of problems every day.

This is not an anti-Wal-Mart campaign, it's a change-Wal-Mart campaign. Wal-Mart is going to exist. We're trying to change it and recognize it for what it is, not make it go away. We also want to limit their ability to grow.

GX: How can people get involved?

AG: People need to act at home. They need to look at their communities and look at where Wal-Mart is and isn't, and start to understand the zoning and town planning process. We will add training materials on our website.

People should get involved in organizations that they are already involved in and run their own Wal-Mart campaigns on their own issues. The point here is to attack this company in a way that they don't understand. They are so big, and they have plans for every certainly. Our job is to figure out the things that they don't have certainty on, and squeeze around them. One of those is their inability to deal with many different people talking about them in their own audiences every day.

For more information about Wal-Mart Watch, visit www.walmartwatch.com.