Quote: (06-11-2015 04:30 AM)BlueOcean Wrote:
The decline of small business is another problem. In the past, you could make a good living by running a restaurant, hardware store, or grocery. Now a few companies
have monopolized these industries, forcing out the small businessman. The path to middle-class stability is harder when we have Walmart, McDonalds, Costco, and Krogers pushing out the small family-run establishments.
Want to start a coffee place? Good luck competing against Starbucks.
How about a sandwich shop? Well Subway owns that.
Competing against these major players is hard because their economies of scale give them purchasing power to negotiate lower prices with suppliers, which allows them to undercut the mom and pop business.
The independent entrepreneur used to be the backbone of the country. He ended up being squeezed out by these soulless mega-corporations.
I'm not saying there isn't a role for huge corporations. Obviously you need large corporations to manufacture jets or build cars. When it comes to simpler
services like making hamburgers or brewing coffee, I wouldn't mind seeing more mom and pop businesses. I suppose you could say that this would raise prices,
but at least there'd be more opportunities for middle-class entrepreneurship.
Subway sandwiches taste like Styrofoam. There are far superior independent sandwich shops in my city. Same thing with pizza. Only rubes go to chain pizzerias like Pizza Hut, Dominos, or Papa John's.