re: #342 Gus

Yep. When I drove back and forth to California last time I noticed that some Walmarts are basically the town hubs now. As you know they have opticians, hair salons, banking, etc. But this has been part of the the American way of life for a long time. I remember many big box stores from when I was kid that are gone now. Sears was one and we used to go to the Sears Surplus store for school clothing. Sears also edged out the small “ma and pa” stores at one point.

I don’t disagree with what you say here in terms of history, but it ends up being a race to the bottom. I think, as Americans, we’re better than that, if only through our willingness to put into place things like minimum wage.