The decline of America..

[Coito ergo sum]

America is not in decline.

We're in recline.

[Audley Strange]

There is another massively looming horror for cyan collar industries. That of new models of distribution. When you have things like Amazon, Steam, Itunes and various holiday sites and clothing sites, the high street is no longer going to be cost effective, meaning reduction in staff, rates, taxes and cheaper and cheaper offers online. This has already been seen to an extent in the news media foolishly trying to recoup cash after almost a decade of giving their product away free online and wondering why physical purchasable news was in decline as well as the vanishing of things like music stores or movie rentals stores on the high street.

I don't understand why stores like Best Buy don't shrink themselves into a 'display model only' space. They should have only one of any given item that you can go in and try out. If you like it, you can order it there online and have it delivered to you or to the store for pickup. It's insane for any store to keep technology-dependent inventory that becomes obsolete as soon as it is shipped. That same display model approach could work for many goods, IMO.

The problem I see with that is that it isn't particularly cost effective for either the distributor or the purchaser. The only reason I physically shop for things is because I want it there and then, not the next day, but it's getting to the stage now that such visits are few and far between, if I couldn't actually walk home with it, then it serves me and I'd suspect many people, no purpose. So I couldn't see it being worthwhile renting a space, designing it and staffing it and not having the goods available. However it's not just goods either. So much banking and finance is done online now that high street banks are becoming increasingly rare on high streets.

The thing that concerns me about this is that we could project it into situations of surburban area served primarily from a single giant warehouse and server cluster close by. No real need for cities at all. Or more importantly the many jobs housed there.

[Tero]

But we still make the web pages for what we have Asians make for us. We even edit the owner's manual for Engrish.

[amused]

There is another massively looming horror for cyan collar industries. That of new models of distribution. When you have things like Amazon, Steam, Itunes and various holiday sites and clothing sites, the high street is no longer going to be cost effective, meaning reduction in staff, rates, taxes and cheaper and cheaper offers online. This has already been seen to an extent in the news media foolishly trying to recoup cash after almost a decade of giving their product away free online and wondering why physical purchasable news was in decline as well as the vanishing of things like music stores or movie rentals stores on the high street.

I don't understand why stores like Best Buy don't shrink themselves into a 'display model only' space. They should have only one of any given item that you can go in and try out. If you like it, you can order it there online and have it delivered to you or to the store for pickup. It's insane for any store to keep technology-dependent inventory that becomes obsolete as soon as it is shipped. That same display model approach could work for many goods, IMO.

The problem I see with that is that it isn't particularly cost effective for either the distributor or the purchaser. The only reason I physically shop for things is because I want it there and then, not the next day, but it's getting to the stage now that such visits are few and far between, if I couldn't actually walk home with it, then it serves me and I'd suspect many people, no purpose. So I couldn't see it being worthwhile renting a space, designing it and staffing it and not having the goods available. However it's not just goods either. So much banking and finance is done online now that high street banks are becoming increasingly rare on high streets.

The thing that concerns me about this is that we could project it into situations of surburban area served primarily from a single giant warehouse and server cluster close by. No real need for cities at all. Or more importantly the many jobs housed there.

It would take a change of attitude from 'get it now' to 'get it later after trying it out' no doubt. But even now I go to Best Buy to check a product out, and if the price difference is large enough, I'll go home and order it online. I feel bad about doing that, so I'd much rather they get their cost structure down to be just a little higher than Amazon so I could feel good about ordering it and buying it locally.

[Coito ergo sum]

I agree. However I separate plutocracy from capitalism. Though in saying that, it does seem to me that the current situation is akin to the Politburo's form of democracy. Instead of "pick the communist" however it's "pick the capitalist". Not a free market at all.

Capitalism doesn't necessarily result in plutocracy. It just did in the US. And yeah....not much chance of a non-millionaire making a serious bid for the white house, is there?

Sure -- Millard Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Truman, Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson,Richard Nixon,Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama.

Some of these are millionaires now or died millionaires, but they were not millionaires leading up to their election. When Obama was elected, he may have been a millionaire or close to it. But, he didn't really make a ton of money until his books became famous, so I included him.

[Seabass]

Uh-oh. Is Merka in decline again? What's this, the twentieth time now?

Stupid Merkins. We can't even decline right.

[amused]

I think it's the American FUCK ALL attitude that just confuzzles the rest of the planet into going along.

"He/She* seems to know what they are doing, so we might as well go along and see if it all works out."

*With apologies to A+

[Robert_S]

America is becoming marginalised and our privleges are eroding!

The rest of the world mocks us and burns our flags!

We need a solution and we need it fast!

We need...


America Plus!!!


And we need it quick, as in before the Chinese ask us for coffee!!1!

[Gerald McGrew]

Sure -- Millard Fillmore, Buchanan, Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, James Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, McKinley, Wilson, Harding, Coolidge, Truman, Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson

Let's rule those out because I don't think we were a full-on plutocracy then. Maybe by the early 1960's we started down that road, but only via small steps.

Richard Nixon,Gerald Ford,

Nixon's a tough call because although from humble beginnings, he was well on his way to wealth when WWII hit. He was a full partner in a law firm and ran his own branch in 1939. He went straight from being an officer in the military to a political career once the war was over.

Ford I wouldn't even count either way, as he served as both VP and POTUS without elections (he replaced Agnew after he resigned and Nixon after he also resigned).

Bill Clinton, Barack Obama.

It's difficult to find any actual numbers for how the Clinton's were financially prior to winning the white house, but suffice to say two Yale-educated lawyers with strong political connects were not lacking for anything at all, and were by all accounts, living very comfortably. Were they actual millionaires? I'd say it's likely, and if not, were definitely very close to being millionaires.

When Obama was elected, he may have been a millionaire or close to it. But, he didn't really make a ton of money until his books became famous, so I included him.

Again, similar to the Clinton's, the Obama's were doing well prior to winning the white house. "Dreams from my Father" was published in 1995, while Obama was president of the Harvard Law Review. Nevertheless, Obama may be the closest to an actual non-millionaire in recent times (since 1980, when we really started down the road towards plutocracy), and look how he's depicted....as some communist who wants to "punish success" and "take from the successful" and "give to the undeserving", who "hates Wall St.", etc.

Quite revealing IMO.

And in terms of effect, is there too much difference between having millionaires actually sitting in office and millionaires having disproportionate influence over elected officials?

[FBM]

America is not in decline.

It couldn't get any lower than it already is.

Well, somebody had to say it.

[JimC]

America is becoming marginalised and our privleges are eroding!

The rest of the world mocks us and burns our flags!

We need a solution and we need it fast!

We need...


America Plus!!!


And we need it quick, as in before the Chinese ask us for coffee!!1!

Especially in an elevator!

[Santa_Claus]

@ Gerald

Re your previous. That's exactly it. The best government money can buy, making the Government itself little more than a vicious P.R. department for vested interests. It's the same here in the U.K. but just not as balls out overt. The problem is the left is a fucking joke and has been for decades meaning the only option people are going to take is towards the extreme right.

Extreme right? I doubt it - but the first Party (existing or new) who comes up with "Nice Nationalism" will be onto a winner.

[Clinton Huxley]

Hey, China is in decline too. Growth was under 8% year on year for last month.

[Gallstones]

U.S. Team Wins National Geographic World Championship

...the United States team answered to win first place at the 11th National Geographic World Championship, held Wednesday at the Russian Geographical Society in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The victorious team defeated Canada and India in the final round; the runners-up came in second and third, respectively, after a close tiebreaker.
...
After beating 14 other teams in preliminary activities on Sunday and Monday—a scavenger hunt around St. Petersburg and a written team test—the United States, Canada, and India advanced to the finals.

[Coito ergo sum]

I bet they took performance enhancing drugs.