4 ms·

It was an odd market niche. Only dry packaged groceries so I couldn't go "grocery shopping", but also could not be combined with my Fresh order. The limited se

It was an odd market niche. Only dry packaged groceries so I couldn't go "grocery shopping", but also could not be combined with my Fresh order. The limited selection and lack of a price benefit meant it wasn't worth the hassle of another order.

kube-system 6y ago
There were a lot of internet grocery stores that sold nonperishables in the days before Instacart. It was useful for people in rural locations that weren’t very mobile... and still is for the people who don’t live where fresh grocery delivery is available.
- mjevans 6y ago
  It might be better for society to help the orderly shutdown and consolidation of those areas towards communities dense enough to have a functional local economy. This would integrate well with new New Deal style programs where people are helped to migrate to jobs that enrich society and those working; and possibly recapture the former community areas as nature reserves or other non-housing lands.
  - RhodesianHunter 6y ago
    Or just let them live their lives where they want to live them?
  - TylerE 6y ago
    That'll last all of about 5 minutes, until some granny goes on the local TV news talking about how she's been forced out of the home she's lived in for the last 70 years.
  - kube-system 6y ago
    Many people naturally do this. The "I can't wait to grow up and get out of here" trope is universal to basically every small town in America. Many people with the means to do so also like to leave the city to move to small town America. There's really nothing wrong with either of these life experiences. People's needs are varied, both by person, and by the stage of their life. Living in an economic hotspot is more important to some people than it is to others.
    - mjevans 6y ago
      Yet those small towns continue to exist, until some very poor last remnants eventually stop having children and the town dies off in a literal sense. A market based solution isn't going to repair a fault like a place doesn't want to economically exist on the map. That's a spot for market regulation to exist and limit suffering.
      - kube-system 6y ago
        > limit suffering. Serious question: do you have any friends or family who choose to live in rural areas? There are a lot of people who enjoy the peace and quiet, wide open spaces, and tight community that is unique to life outside of urban areas. Some people like the lack of noise, air, and light pollution more than they like instacart. There are people on this forum who live in rural areas and participate in the economy quite well, and have a higher standard of living than 98% of the world. Although, even the idea that people are poorer in rural areas might not be correct. According to the 2015 ACS, poverty rates were higher in urban areas. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/12/a_comparison_of_rura.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/...
  - ultimape 6y ago
    it would also be better for society if everyone was grown in a vat and fed a nutrient brine like ants. Might not be fair to the ants tho. Also given that most of the viruses are spread via city center, centralizing everything like that might not be a viable long term solution for the survival of the human species. What you have to consider is that there are risk/reward trade offs that are involved in creating economic centers, and most of our history the city has been the place where more people died than were born. Better not to force it so the norms around this will evolve naturally as people select into the Schelling point naturally. I for one welcome our new borg hivemind overlords promulgated on back of the concepts of a breakaway society.
  - samatman 6y ago
    It might be better for society if you gave me your shoes and jacket in an orderly fashion. Did that sound like a threat? After all, I didn't provide any reason why it might be good, and you don't want to do it.
  - jrochkind1 6y ago
    Is on-demand courier delivery of groceries now a requirement for a "functional local economy"?

kube-system 6y ago

There were a lot of internet grocery stores that sold nonperishables in the days before Instacart. It was useful for people in rural locations that weren’t very mobile... and still is for the people who don’t live where fresh grocery delivery is available.

mjevans 6y ago
It might be better for society to help the orderly shutdown and consolidation of those areas towards communities dense enough to have a functional local economy. This would integrate well with new New Deal style programs where people are helped to migrate to jobs that enrich society and those working; and possibly recapture the former community areas as nature reserves or other non-housing lands.
- RhodesianHunter 6y ago
  Or just let them live their lives where they want to live them?
- TylerE 6y ago
  That'll last all of about 5 minutes, until some granny goes on the local TV news talking about how she's been forced out of the home she's lived in for the last 70 years.
- kube-system 6y ago
  Many people naturally do this. The "I can't wait to grow up and get out of here" trope is universal to basically every small town in America. Many people with the means to do so also like to leave the city to move to small town America. There's really nothing wrong with either of these life experiences. People's needs are varied, both by person, and by the stage of their life. Living in an economic hotspot is more important to some people than it is to others.
  - mjevans 6y ago
    Yet those small towns continue to exist, until some very poor last remnants eventually stop having children and the town dies off in a literal sense. A market based solution isn't going to repair a fault like a place doesn't want to economically exist on the map. That's a spot for market regulation to exist and limit suffering.
    - kube-system 6y ago
      > limit suffering. Serious question: do you have any friends or family who choose to live in rural areas? There are a lot of people who enjoy the peace and quiet, wide open spaces, and tight community that is unique to life outside of urban areas. Some people like the lack of noise, air, and light pollution more than they like instacart. There are people on this forum who live in rural areas and participate in the economy quite well, and have a higher standard of living than 98% of the world. Although, even the idea that people are poorer in rural areas might not be correct. According to the 2015 ACS, poverty rates were higher in urban areas. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/12/a_comparison_of_rura.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/blogs/random-samplings/2016/...
- ultimape 6y ago
  it would also be better for society if everyone was grown in a vat and fed a nutrient brine like ants. Might not be fair to the ants tho. Also given that most of the viruses are spread via city center, centralizing everything like that might not be a viable long term solution for the survival of the human species. What you have to consider is that there are risk/reward trade offs that are involved in creating economic centers, and most of our history the city has been the place where more people died than were born. Better not to force it so the norms around this will evolve naturally as people select into the Schelling point naturally. I for one welcome our new borg hivemind overlords promulgated on back of the concepts of a breakaway society.
- samatman 6y ago
  It might be better for society if you gave me your shoes and jacket in an orderly fashion. Did that sound like a threat? After all, I didn't provide any reason why it might be good, and you don't want to do it.
- jrochkind1 6y ago
  Is on-demand courier delivery of groceries now a requirement for a "functional local economy"?