This article is inspired by an article in the New York Time, “In Town already Hit by Steel mill Closings, A New Casualty: Retail Jobs,” by Rachel Abrams and Robert Gebeloff where they stated: “Almost all customer fulfillment centers run by the online shopping behemoth Amazon are in metropolitan areas with more than 250,000 people — close to the bulk of its customers — according to a list of locations compiled by MWPVL International, a logistics consulting firm. An Amazon spokeswoman noted, however, that the company had recently opened warehouses in two distressed cities in larger metropolitan areas, Fall River, Mass., and Joliet, Ill.” This segment of the article reminded me of information about the abolishing of the Feudal system for a Town system (fifth paragraph of linked article). Another piece to prove this connection is the shift that is occurring in Sub-Saharan Africa from village to city, which is being caused by a similar reason.
So, what is currently happening in the United States? Smalls towns are increasingly shrinking, tapering off, and people are increasingly in need to relocate for work. It is not all small towns are disappearing, it is just a large amount of them are experiencing economic erosion. This will lead to large swarths of people being angered by this erosion, and eventually, looking for new opportunities elsewhere.
Moreover, Amazon is an indicator of what is occurring in the United States; the realization that it is more economically viable to have a vast business network condensed in a singular location that is near a lot of demand. If one is locating their business network closer to the demand, they cut costs that are associated with distance (truck, fuel, labour, incidents, and wear-&-tear). Then Amazon recently bought Whole Foods, therefore the next thing that will change is the agriculture industry, which will upset more communities in the coming years. The way to disrupt this industry is by creating vertical farms, smart-farms, or some other new technology that produces more output. Also, there are large incentives to create the agriculture system of the future. The industry accounts for 992 billion dollars of United States Gross Domestic Product-even owning a small percentage will create a large of revenue stream. In addition, there has been a lot of research involved with food waste and consumption, which will cement anyone’s legacy if they solve the issue. Through this achievement, one can bargain with local officials for tax breaks or other incentives to ease the burden on the operation.
Society is experiencing a new system being created that is brought on by the advances of science as they have always in history. The coming years will experience more disruptions as this occurs and communities need to readjust or fade. Even elected officials must consider what may be necessary measures to take in the coming years rather than wait till it occurs.