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I very much agree with the assertion that our economy is getting less dynamic, in the sense that everywhere you go in the US it seems like everything, and i mea
by twofornone 5y ago
I very much agree with the assertion that our economy is getting less dynamic, in the sense that everywhere you go in the US it seems like everything, and i mean everything, is being steamrolled by bigger and bigger corps and morphed into a bland, dumbed down, mass appealing corporate monoculture, designed (probably by MBAs) exclusively with profits in mind and no actual interest in developing any sort of soul or true differentiation. Random example, walk into a hardware store (everywhere you go its either lowes, home depot, or maybe ace, cross country) and tell me if there's a real difference between any of the tool manufacturers. On the one hand, the convenience of cheap and fairly durable goods is great. On the other, it seems like everyone is afraid to stray too far from what works to really innovate or compete. Most cars look pretty similar. The same restaurants exist literally from coast to coast, everywhere you go the US is starting to look more and more generic.
Mostly it probably has to do with economies of scale, but at this point I'd rather spend an extra 10%+ on goods and services if it meant a return to true differentiation and a wider variety of consumer culture.
- LamdbaMamba 5y agoI'm seeing more and more discussion on a stuck mono culture, and I have to say I agree with it. This is an interesting write up on the phenomenon. https://paulskallas.substack.com/p/is-culture-stuck https://paulskallas.substack.com/p/is-culture-stuck
- twofornone 5y agoGreat writeup, really sums up a lot of the angst I've been feeling about modern american culture.
- foofoo4u 5y agoThis reflects one of the greatest dissatisfaction I have with touring the United States, which is the ubiquity of franchises. I can tour cities across the country and I always see the same companies: Starbucks, Target, 7Eleven, Panda Express, Petco, etc. It doesn't matter if I go to Salem, Austin, or Los Angeles. I see the same stores with the same shopping centers. There is a lost sense of culture. The same goes for billboards. It's always the same companies marketing: Ford, McDonalds, etc. Why do we hardly ever see small brands marketing? I'd be inclined to keep billboards if small brands utilized them to help their business, but that is rarely the case. Given this, why do we still tolerate billboards to the same mega-corporations? Everyone already knows they exist and what they sell. How much more exposure do they really need at the expense of the natural beauty of our towns and our own mental state?
- megaman821 5y agoI can't say I have too much trouble going to interesting eateries and coffee shops around cities in America. I agree with you the retail shops are pretty much the same everywhere. I see (and have bought from) small brands online (especially ones that advertise on social networks and podcasts). In my circles a lot of other people have to. I just assume that these advertisements are a lot more effective than billboards, so billboards are left to the larger companies doing more brand marketing.
- passerby1 5y agoMaybe I'm wrong but probably big corps keep buying billboards to keep a status quo (kinda their monopoly) and to prevent some new company to shake the market. Therefore probably they would be the same happy if costs of renting a billboard rise to the sky preventing anyone from advertising. But probably they'd better keep things as they are.