To the editor:
Let’s get rid of overpaid government employees.
Let’s also bankrupt the small businesses that families in our community run.
Let’s ensure that similar businesses are no longer feasible for the younger generation.
Let’s open up the competition so that billionaires can capture that business and add even more to their obscene and unnecessary wealth.
All of those former workers, business owners and their families can be hired back to work as disposable units at a fraction of their former income and security. So long as I can now buy a bottle for a buck less than before, it’s not my problem.
It’s pretty sad when we have no sympathy for anyone unless they are dirt poor.
We cheer on the fat cats to kill off the little guys so they can bring us the same stuff for a bit less. Gut the middle class for the sake of a lower price.
No matter that it’s actually the circle of decent middle income that keeps the system healthy and competitive for everyone’s benefit (even for those not selling booze).
If convenience and price were serious problems, the government could have simply issued more licenses to family-sized operations.
More community stores and better pricing would come from that.
But once the cream is taken off the top by the big boys, the specialty store’s selection is often no longer feasible. So much for having an interesting place to find something unique.
For that, we’ll just order it online and have it packed by an underpaid and bored assembly line worker living thousands of miles away; and then delivered to the house by a miniature helicopter drone.
It’s called free enterprise. As a small business owner (but in the bookselling game), I agree that it has been a fantastic model in many respects.
But surely we can see how a winner-takes-all game eventually weakens the rest of the players.
When are we going to become hungry enough to swing the pendulum back closer to the middle?
Michael Neill,
Kelowna
