[FRIAM] Getting You Libertarians' Goats

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Yes, online shopping does seem to be directly analogous to mall and big box shopping, engine oil right next to the organic apples! What's not to love?

More importantly, monopolies like Amazon demonstrate, once again, that the computer is less flexible than the humans using the computer. Their undermining of Etsy with "handmade" is a great example. I use Etsy to buy from locals. The narrative we were fed for "online shopping" was a diversification of vendors with a unification of end point (your door). [⛧] But what we end up with is a unification of vendor (Amazon), through an exploitation of workers and institutions, to a unification of destination. This hearkens back to wealth inequality and the permanent underclass capitalism requires.

I think it's a mistake to desperately optimize away from "needing" anything. But maybe it's purely philosophical. Part of the reason I prefer the local hardware store is because the people in there help me solve problems, regardless of whether I buy anything. Of the box stores, Lowe's seems the most interested in problem solving, but still not good. The local hardware (and feed) store people seem to get a real kick out of it when I come in with a problem to solve ... e.g. hanging a movable welding screen from a > 20' ceiling. The people at the box stores could not care less.

That social interaction, along with the pub, are about all I really get in meat space. Were I as creative or handy as you, I wouldn't need/have that social interaction at all. I used to get something similar at the book stores, not so much at Powell's, but the smaller ones. The maker spaces I used to go to had similar issues ... purchasing electronic components online is waaaay different than going to the local pack-rat dork vendor who would help you build the device with you. So, it's less about only buying what you need, and more about social learning/production. Ebooks and online shopping just does not compare and I feel sorry for those who do all their reading, making, thinking, and drinking alone in their basements.


[⛧] We were fed that narrative for personal computers, media sources, music artists, etc. Each time, the oligarchs manage to find a way to exploit resources (including duped consumers) in order to funnel wealth to their passive investments.

On 9/14/20 9:30 AM, Steve Smith wrote:
> 
> I think "online shopping" in general has proven to be an effective
> competitor to "mall shopping" as "malls" became effective competitors to
> "main street", and I suppose "main street" to the old-school "general
> store" model.    It is a reverse-backflow system where some aspects of
> the "business" improve while others flail.   The mall has *everything
> you want* compared even to a rich mainstreet selection, but you have to
> drive out to the suburbs and hike across a 1000 acre parking lot, but
> are rewarded by ambient entertainment, air conditioning and an
> invitation to use them for senior exercise walks.
> 
> Yup, but it felt like Elizabeth would like to "rain hell down on them"
> like an early c20 Trust Buster if she'd gotten hold of the reins (for
> better or worse).  
> 
> I paradoxically drive past small hardware stores on my way to "the big
> box" too often, though usually only when I am confident the local
> doesn't have what I need, and after I've checked in on "do I really NEED
> what I can only find at the big box".   Before COVID I studiously
> eschewed *marts but still went to Target and Sams as if they were
> qualitatively different (whilst also doing the calculus of the big-box
> hardware store example when I could).  
> 
> COVID had me going back to my DIY roots and trying desperately NOT to
> think I needed ANYTHING from ANY of those places.... just as practice
> for the Apocalypse, should it come (yes, it is still inevitable, just
> not sure what time-scale).   Speaking of which, our flock of 8 hens is
> finally producing 5-7 eggs a day which is only slightly more than we are
> eating...   but now we have a racoon who jumped the 8' courtyard wall
> (an interesting obstacle at best, not an obstruction for him) and shat
> on the roof of our coop (knocked together from my hoards of salvaged
> supplies) last night.   Time to double-down on fasteners and get the dog
> habituated to the chickens (while in their coop at least)...   I'd
> rather not have to figure out how to pass Raccoon Stew off to Mary as
> vegetarian.
> 
> <anecdote meant to reinforce the value and hazards of distributed
> sourcing of goods and services>


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