Quote:
Originally Posted by ScalyFreak
Doesn't mean he's wrong. Small and local does often mean that the store is more expensive, since they can't buy huge bulk amounts at lower prices. Amazon is cheap because they spread the risk/margins over such a large variety of product. A specialized small store doesn't have that luxury.
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There are hidden costs, often in quality of life and in destructive social changes, to the race to the bottom in commodity prices. One of those costs is the banalization of real world interaction. Another is the increased isolation and alienation of an increasingly atomic individual. I, for one, shudder at the thought of lived commercial interaction being reduced to an endless sea of Walmarts, Targets, Starbucks, and Giants. These trends are not just unfortunate; they are useful for those in positions of economic and political power because they undermine the sentiment of solidarity (and the lived experience of empathy, compassion, and brotherhood) which motivates people to band together and resist the usurpation of their political rights and the violation of their economic interests.