Death of the high street…

Does anybody ever notice how we all get herded along by the ‘establishment’? It’s like we have no say in anything ….until it’s too late. Somebody somewhere has decided that ‘retail is dead’ and that shops are to be condemned to a part of history we’d rather forget.

We’re told that everybody is now shopping on line.

We’re told that everybody has too much stuff and that we should all be downsizing and reducing our reliance on material objects and all become more green and in tune with Mother Earth.

We get hit subliminally from all sides. Newspaper articles, tv programs, books, magazines – all point to this enviable lifestyle where we live simply… and all eat vegan. We see these tanned good looking types who extol the virtues of dairy free and meat free and caffeine free and alcohol free ….most of them are also celibate and aren’t going to reproduce because it’s …’bad for the planet’.

Me …? I think we are all being screwed over.

Somebody decided that there wasn’t enough land in city Centre’s to build all the houses they wanted to build.

Soooo….they decided that the majority of the best space was taken up by bloody great retail stores that were hogging all the prime locations.

Soooo….they decided let’s fuck up retail and get everyone to shop on line thus killing the big stores and forcing them to close down.

Not only do they close down, they close down because they’ve gone bust – they’ve gone bust and the buildings they used to own now get snapped up at ‘pennies on the pound’. The ‘establishment guys’ then jump in, knock down the retail stores and build thousands of flats that they sell for premium prices.

But ….dear reader.

Do you REALLY want to do ALL your shopping on line?

Really? Do you?

Let’s be honest getting the milk delivered is great. The heavy stuff that is just a pain to carry back from the supermarket – great let them drop it off and bring it to your front door.

But …shopping is something we ‘do’ …it’s a bloody pastime. It’s where you meet people. It’s where you rub shoulders with the world.

Not only do you enjoy the experience, what about all the people that are employed doing the job in the first place? What happens to them? What about all the people employed in making the stuff that we like to buy? What happens to them?

Well.

What happens is that …it’s all part of a great big evil master plan.

The ‘establishment guys’ buy up the retail, build the flats – and sell the flats. But then they realise that there aren’t enough shops to service all the people in the new flats and there aren’t any jobs for them to do.

Soooo….they buy the flats back at knock down prices (…the people that bought them haven’t got a job so they can’t afford them). They then flatten the flats and build big retail parks and create jobs and opportunities.

Then because there are lots of jobs and opportunities we need more flats….

Aaaaaarrrrggghhhhhh

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Mike C