kiwiman127
Comfortably Moderate
This is a FASCINATING topic and the OP is extremely well-written, in my opinion.
I am wondering if there is a geographic component to this, meaning, whether some corners of the USA have been "corporatized" faster and earlier than the rest.
What say you?
First, Thank you for the kind words...
Not as much as I used to before 2008, but over the past couple decades I travelled throughout the midwest states, and a few trips to FL and MN.
What I can say is, at least in the Midwest, at least 90% of the growth or new business development has been corporate box stores. Whether that be restaurants, big box hardware, retail chains and discounts stores or even down to plumbing chains and other more traditionally small mom and pops.
Consider....in 1955, the top 5 employers in the U.S. were all builders and producers. Amoco, GM, US Steel etc.
TODAY - Walmart, YUM! Brands and McDonalds are the top three. The top 10 also include retail chains like Target and national grocers.
Seriously?? More people work in retail chains than true industries.
We are no longer a nation of movers and shakers. Builders and achievers...we work at Walmart and Home Depot.
So I don't know if this is geographic or not...by generally the nation as a whole? - absolutely.
I happened across this thread this morning and thought it ended too soon.
Revisiting the thread topic, do you (you being anybody who wants to respond) wonder why we are now a nation in which retail and service businesses eclipse the builders and manufacturers that once grounded our economic growth? Should we not consider that it was the increasing concentration of power in a central government--a concept that the Founders intended would not happen--and the resulting ability of government to control more and more of how Americans would do business, commerce, and industry, that resulted in such unintended negative consequences?
Yes OSHA laws have reduced many injuries and hazards of the workplace. Yes the EPA has provided a means to clean up badly polluted soil, water, and air. Yes child labor laws have eliminated one form of child abuse. Yes minimum wage laws, unemployment compensation, mandatory work comp laws, mandatory overtime pay, and now mandatory healthcare insurance etc. has improved the situation of many individuals.
But it has all come at a very heavy price, a price that big corporations who can move most of their primary money making operations overseas can easily afford while the small mom and pop businesses have no such option. We lost our manufacturing base because government meddling, excessive taxes, and regulation drove it to other countries where it could be done more profitably even considering higher shipping costs. And the big box stores gained a huge foothold because they could absorb the government regulations more easily, and each store could operate on a lower profit margin than could their smaller competitors. So the mom and pop businesses are being forced out of business.
Everything is always going to change as civilization advances. But all things are not for the best. I would like to see the federal government busted back close to its constitutional roots and restore the power to the people to order the society they want to have. The transition would be tough, but once we adjusted, I think we would see the old American can do spirit return.
I find it interesting that the spike in outsourcing jobs offshore started occurring after the Capital Gains Tax and Dividend Tax was lowered early in the previous decade.