ByronM - 1:29 pm on Jan 21, 2008 (gmt 0)

It's sad to see friendly people and nice stores close down. Unfortunately, too many people focus upon doing what they do now rather than identifying upcoming threats and devising strategies to beat them. Some bookstores have introduced sofas, coffee, book clubs, etc. Others have moved online and in doing so, slashed their overheads (if Amazon push up prices in the future as many suggest, these stores will be in a good position). Yet others have moved into vanity and short run publishing for niche (nee-shh) markets.

True, some businesses just don't want to change but the fact of the matter some of them CAN'T change.

In the irony of our free market, our very financial market relies on supporting the key players instead of the little guy. Over and over you hear "The US is supported on the shoulders of small business" and to a degree thats unbearably true. Without milking small businesses for every ounce of underpaid work, underpaid salaries, underpaid employees and locking them in to niche segments they can only pray to stay competitive in the walmarts, amazons and other stores simply squeeze out the competition under the guise of "bigger = better".

Cheap labor = more profit. Cheap labor = walmart & amazon falling prices. Cheap labor = downward spiral of being able to afford decent products and getting stuck in a cycle of shopping on price alone and becoming reliant on something that may seem convenient but in hindsight has eaten us alive.

super corporations are soul less beings out to get everything they can from you. The ma and paa book or coffee shop may not be as extravagant as your super store starbucks mocha frappa machiatio chino but more often than not its an enjoyable experience, better service and a little bit more of a human experience.

The world is so "self serve" today we have forgotten what its like to work with people expecting that some corporate big brother will do it for us or that we can blame the government.

I'd say France is well beyond blaming people and well into the action phase and we Americans are so stuck on consuming everything we can that we forget the ideology we inherently accept by buying into it with our hard earned cash.

Disclaimer: I shop at walmart, amazon, target. I don't HATE where we are today, i'm just concerned about our future since it seems our current ways are impossible to sustain and that we're raising a future generation of people who will be unable to think or decide for themselves having one place that serves every whim under the guise of falling prices = pure value. Life is so much more than money. It used to be you felt accomplished from hard work and today its more you fell worn out and need to buy something to feel personal value and i sincerely think the amazons, walmarts and targets have worked very hard to tear into that aspect of humanity.

After all, if we can't sell your soul you must be a socialist! (according to many responses i've see of this topic across the internet)