In theory, we could all stay in our houses or apartments and order everything we want to be delivered to us. But that's not exactly living and experiencing the world.
There's something of value in old book and record stores and the community that they provide that I wouldn't want to see lost.
“In theory, we could all stay in our houses or apartments and order everything we want to be delivered to us. But that’s not exactly living and experiencing the world”
Considering what constitutes real-world physical shopping for most people, they might as well be Leibnizian monads. Which the internet only exacerbates, I admit. Which is exaclty why I encourage us to divorce the notions of society and community from commerce. Because the days of the Athenian agora and Renaissance fair are dead.
Hanging out at specialty shops is no substitute. It replaces self-interested cliques for the genuine interaction of other platforms (family, friends, colleagues, teams, clubs, churches, etc.). On the other hand, as I’ve been arguing, it lacks economic efficiency. So it loses on both fronts.
“There’s something of value in old book and record stores and the community that they provide that I wouldn’t want to see lost.”
Let me not overstate my case. There surely was value, infinitely moreso than you find on blogs, message boards, and chatrooms. But not any more than, say, my lunch table in Junior High. I don’t miss that community, by the way, and wouldn’t go back for all the gold in Peru.