A singular example of 'having to wait for a few minutes' in Home Depot doesn't really help make your case.
Whatever we might not like about the 'Big Box' nature of it ... 'Home Depot' is actually an excruciatingly example of that which is articulated in the article.
HD is this massive place where you can buy a gazillion different types of products (and services); there is an amazing degree of variety and specialization in every little aspect of it all.
Home Depot is in many ways a luxury store of the suburban middle class, a blatant example of the massive surpluses inherent in the modern economy. It's a testament to a lot of things. It's a kind of 'bourgeois for the masses'.
Consider for a moment that such a thing doesn't even exist in Europe! Now, most of this is cultural, in that, for a variety of historical reasons, they don't have that 'DOY' kind of culture; but make no mistake, it's also economic. People generally don't have the garage space (or a garage/shed) in which to store all of the semi useful bounty they collect from such a place. And neither the income to support it.
If HD were a place wherein it was impossible to get service, where staff 'knew nothing' and it was a desperately terrible business, then I think there'd be a point to be made but as it stands ... 'having to wait in line once for something' is almost crossing the line into entitlement.
And of course, the reason lines existed in the Soviet Union is something else entirely, and so the comparison is problematic to begin with.
Education and Health Services are 'problem areas' for capitalism, at least in the American sense, but I suggest with some meaningful reforms, it could work out. A handful of European nations have 'somewhat/mostly private' though still 'socialized' systems that work well.
"He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, "there would be a revolution.". This is really a historical statement. If we can move past issues of national pride and the 'we are better / I told you so' jingoisms, there's a lot to be learned from this. In fact, so few statements communicate so much.
In what sense does such a thing as Home Depot not exist in Europe? In Ireland we have two chains of big warehouse-style DIY stores: Woodies and B&Q, sized around 50,000 sq ft. In both of them you can get power tools, timber, bathroom and plumbing supplies, garden furniture, paint, flooring, doors...
I've never been in a Home Depot but they sound pretty similar. Are they just so much bigger?
I always imagined most things in Ireland and UK in general as being smaller than the US. A quick search and yes, HDs are typically 100,000 sq/ft. Average grocery stores here are 50k and Walmart & Costco around 100k - 150k.
The new Ikea down the road is 344,445 sq ft in floor space over two floors - so about 170k in size - and it has a B&Q next door that's about two-thirds that size, although only one floor. That's within a few miles of the centre of London, there are bigger stores outside of towns and cities across the UK.
Supermarkets here can range up to 100k for the very largest, although they're apparently moving away from absolutely huge stores to stores in the 30k - 50k size. So
I don't know Ireland, but Home Depot is almost like the Costco of such stores. The most popular car in Europe is VW Golf, the most popular 'car' in America is Ford F1 truck. Consider what people are using such things for :). 'Mr Bricolage' in France is 1B Euros sales, Home Depot is 100B USD in 2018. Though Woodies is apparently large relative to Ireland's population.
The new Ikea down the road is 344,445 sq ft in size, it has a B&Q next door that's about two-thirds that size and there are at least three other shops selling DIY supplies within ten minutes walk. Plus a couple of large specialist trade-shops for builders. And this is within a few miles of the centre of London - there are bigger versions all over the country. What is unique about Home Depot?
Whatever we might not like about the 'Big Box' nature of it ... 'Home Depot' is actually an excruciatingly example of that which is articulated in the article.
HD is this massive place where you can buy a gazillion different types of products (and services); there is an amazing degree of variety and specialization in every little aspect of it all.
Home Depot is in many ways a luxury store of the suburban middle class, a blatant example of the massive surpluses inherent in the modern economy. It's a testament to a lot of things. It's a kind of 'bourgeois for the masses'.
Consider for a moment that such a thing doesn't even exist in Europe! Now, most of this is cultural, in that, for a variety of historical reasons, they don't have that 'DOY' kind of culture; but make no mistake, it's also economic. People generally don't have the garage space (or a garage/shed) in which to store all of the semi useful bounty they collect from such a place. And neither the income to support it.
If HD were a place wherein it was impossible to get service, where staff 'knew nothing' and it was a desperately terrible business, then I think there'd be a point to be made but as it stands ... 'having to wait in line once for something' is almost crossing the line into entitlement.
And of course, the reason lines existed in the Soviet Union is something else entirely, and so the comparison is problematic to begin with.
Education and Health Services are 'problem areas' for capitalism, at least in the American sense, but I suggest with some meaningful reforms, it could work out. A handful of European nations have 'somewhat/mostly private' though still 'socialized' systems that work well.
"He told his fellow Russians in his entourage that if their people, who often must wait in line for most goods, saw the conditions of U.S. supermarkets, "there would be a revolution.". This is really a historical statement. If we can move past issues of national pride and the 'we are better / I told you so' jingoisms, there's a lot to be learned from this. In fact, so few statements communicate so much.