Skip to footer

Readers Write: The future of retail is 'buy local'; The key to Africa's economic growth

Letters to the Editor for the Feb. 3, 2014 weekly magazine:

Kenya's future is increasingly being dictated not by the national government or major businesses, but rather by civil society – the people. Hopefully, the trend will continue in Africa.

Internet shopping appealed to me until I realized it pointed to an anonymous shopping future with a total focus on cost and speed. My vision of retail would be that consumers seek out local stores and only turn to the big chains and the giant Amazon as a last resort.

| Greenfield, Mass. and Chevy Chase, Md.

The future of retail: Buy local

Two articles in the Dec. 16 issue ("Delivery at digital speeds" and "Is a store credit card right for you?") paint a future of retail that is almost dystopian. In the first, we read that people want and almost expect that retailers will be able to provide them with their purchases within an hour. In the second, we read that having Amazon and Target credit cards may be a smart personal finance choice.

My vision of retail would be that consumers seek out local stores for all their purchases and, only as a very last resort, turn to the big chains and the giant Amazon. The rallying cry here in western Massachusetts is "buy local." I have found that doing this as best I can brings all sorts of benefits, such as getting to know and support people who are eager to keep the local economy strong. It's exciting to see entrepreneurs starting new stores and co-ops going strong.

All the trucks and planes bringing us our Amazon purchases are not in the best interest of the planet. A recent study of working conditions in Amazon warehouses doesn't help this picture either. The lure of easy Internet shopping appealed to me until I realized it pointed to an anonymous shopping future with a total focus on cost and speed. I know that in 2014 I can buy everything I need within an hour of my house and will feel more a part of my community. That's my goal, and it looks rather utopian.

Ginny Gray

Greenfield, Mass.

The key to Africa's economic growth

Regarding the "Gleaming African mall, dark terror" piece in the Dec. 30, 2013 & Jan. 6, 2014 issue, "Stories that will shape 2014": The threats of instability may appear to be fraying the domestic fabric of Kenya, but this instability is not systemic.

While some Kenyans may "find their rise complicated by troubled political legacies," civil society is well positioned to contribute to sustainable growth and prosperity. That is what makes the socioeconomic development in Kenya and other African countries so remarkable. The future is increasingly being dictated not by the national government or major businesses, but rather by civil society – the people. Hopefully, the trend will continue in Africa.

Mark M. Spradley

Chevy Chase, Md.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Readers Write: The future of retail is 'buy local'; The key to Africa's economic growth
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Readers-Respond/2014/0217/Readers-Write-The-future-of-retail-is-buy-local-The-key-to-Africa-s-economic-growth
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe