The death of retail stores and jobs....

Now, I hate being a Luddite, I think overall progress is usually for the common good. But I really don't understand what will happen when retail sales jobs start to disappear. Retail sales for many people is a great way to enter or re-enter the workforce, especially if you have no special skills and don't have more than a high school diploma or a bachelor's degree.


What will kill retail? People walking around brick-and-mortar stores with their iPhone/Android apps that show if they can get a cheaper deal for the same product online. Already struggling electronic stores will probably fold by the end of next year. I haven't seen these apps in action, but I would imagine this might be useful for high-end clothing as well.

I think many stores will be forced to close because their overhead expenses are much higher than some guy or gal selling merchandise out of their basement using the Internet.

When Republicans keep saying that the future of economic growth is in small business, what do they mean? I think they mean that everyone will be selling stuff out of their basement over the Internet. But how practical or easy is that? How practical or easy is it to start any small business for that matter? How easy is it to raise capital to start a small business, especially now when the banks are tight about who they loan money to? I don't believe that the Republicans think about these things when they say that things like small business is the future of the economy. But what else are they going to say when they know that the Internet is slowly killing traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, and what else are they going to say when they want to eliminate as many government jobs as possible because their wealthy "1 percent buddies" are the only ones who can afford to pay taxes and they don't want to.

It used to be that you worked hard and saved money to start a business of your own, but how will that be possible when their are no more jobs left. And who will loan you money when you don't have a job.

Some people say that the new economy created by the innovations of the Internet and wireless technology are exciting, and that innovators like Steve Jobs, the late Apple founder, and Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon will be revered as major driving forces behind great economic change and the emerging new economy, but I think ultimately they will be hated for making so many jobs disappear especially in the retail sector, a major employer of the post-industrial world.