Whenever I hear of people advocating for the breakdown of capitalism, markets, and the decaying systems of barter and exchange, I know they must have had some experience trying to navigate Craigslist. Craig, oh Craig, you had such good intentions. Private citizens doing away with the middle man to exchange used items, junk, services (ermhmm), and in a way our own hopes and dreams. I had dreams once, dreams of taking up the hobby of archery, dreams that inspired true passion in me. If I ever put as much energy and focus into my academic career and essays as I did into researching everything a beginner needs to know about their first takedown recurve bow … heck, I might know what an LSAT was and probably have passed it. Those dreams died when I tried to fulfill them through transactions on Craigslist. Between sellers who won’t answer emails, who know next to nothing about their item, or in the worst scenario sell your item to some jerk from Kamloops — Craigslist is a minefield of failed aspirations. I think as a globalized society we should begin to show appreciation for the level of reliability and access provided by multi-national corporations through brick-and-mortar shops. It seems our dreams can only come true with profit markups and scanned barcodes.
PS: If you selling archery stuff hit me up fam.
