Capitalism is unfair! Have you ever thought if the economic system we live and breathe was fair or not? I see that National Retail Association has flagged allowing supermarkets to open till midnight would help in the post covid-19 recovery. No big deal you might think, if businesses want to open longer hours why not let them. Who knows, there could be a late night that you might desperately need something and it is great some stores are open. What type of stores are going to be less likely open till midnight though? The locally owned and operated stores, those that are possibly already putting in 60+ hours per week and are already seeing sales slip away online, as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos marches on to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Again, so what if owner operated stores do or do not open, that’s their choice. But what a choice, don’t open and lose more sales, open and earn an hourly rate that you be to embarrassed to calculate, let alone tell anyone. Then there is the toll on one’s health; physical, mental and family.
Capitalism Favours Big
Locally owned businesses are already on the wrong side of the capitalism fairness scales. Capitalism favours big (the bigger the more favourable), the businesses with more outlets, more recognisable brand, bigger advertising budget, a store with market presence to attract shoppers at 11.00pm on a Monday night with night fill staff who need to now also keep an eye on the counter until the checkout free technology is adopted to charge the customers mobile phone account automatically.
Get big or die; yes that isn’t far from the reality of capitalism, unless a business can find a viable niche to specialise in, but not big enough for the big operators to worry about, or you have the Jeff Bezos vision and drive. So that’s life you might be thinking, yes but is that the life you really want; less locally owned and operated businesses, more of the same businesses you find in every other reasonable size city.
As I previously quoted when this pandemic first started, “only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable.” The famous and some might say controversial economist Milton Friedman said this.
Big Is Not Necessarily Better
My guess is that the major supermarkets have wanted extended, perhaps even unregulated, trading hours legislation to be passed for some time and now is the ideal time to push it. Making shopping available to midnight might not sound like a big deal, that’s if you did get to hear a mention of it amongst the stories of restrictions, border closures, nursing homes, etc., but do you want it to be harder for some local businesses to survive. Local sporting clubs and groups to have less options to hit up for sponsorship’s (have you tried getting a sponsorship out of a national business). Less diversity, less options, less money actually circulating in the
community. And quite possibly fewer local retail jobs as automation technology is adopted by more big businesses.
Capitalism pretty much decrees these outcomes are inevitable, but do we have to expedite them, to the possible detriment of our own community.
Try to keep aware of what changes are being introduced under the guise of restimulating the economy and consider all the possible repercussions. As the planners of these changes haven’t just suddenly come up with a brilliant idea, they’ve possibly been sitting on it for a while waiting for the right time to present it. Local businesses though haven’t the resources or the clout as individuals to effectively voice their views. That might not seem fair, but that is capitalism.