Retail has been on life support -- coronavirus could pull the plug

[SheltieLover]

[link:https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/retail-has-been-life-support-coronavirus-could-pull-plug-n1178356|

Over the last few weeks, dozens of retailers have announced furloughs. Macy’s put the majority of its roughly 130,000 workers on furlough. Kohl’s, JCPenney and Nordstrom temporarily closed all of its stores and put its workers on furlough, which amounts to a total of about 300,000 people.

“Nobody wants to cut people out of their company,” said Allen Questrom, the former CEO of Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York, and JCPenney. “The key is to stay alive so the company can come back into business.”

“One in four jobs is retail related. If you want to save the U.S. economy you need to focus on the retail industry," said one analyst.

With hundreds of thousands of stores closed nationwide, the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating dramatic changes across the retail industry that had been underway well before the viral outbreak hit the U.S., according to analysts.

[Newest Reality]

1. It has...

It has occurred to me that we will not be getting back to what we call normal ever again.

This is a reverberating blow to the system and a revelation of its weaknesses and the results of gross inequity and the neglect of the sphere of the common people who are the foundation of whatever those in their ivory castles manage to accomplish. And yet, the picture is presented as the reverse of that an their self-made brilliance is what we all depend upon.

Now, as we go into uncharted territory on a stormy sea uncharted, we will wait to see if the way we are managed becomes more brutal and stark rather than by a mere manufacturing of our collective consent. These are times that dictators like Donald J. Trump relish since they both give an excellent opportunity for disaster and vulture capitalism to gain ground and flourish, as well as providing the chaos and fear that support the forging of a regime that can overwhelm and overturn our current system. That's already in progress.

What do we do? Well, the irony of this crisis is that we can't even get out and protest or assemble, which was a traditional route. However, without mobilization, we will be completely helpless and beholden to a global rise in totalitarian methods to control and contain the results of this disruption. You can count on that. This is just a beginning.

[S.E. TN Liberal]

2. Are we on our way to becoming The United States of Amazon?

Will any stores survive the trumpvirus pandemic?

What happens when everyone has no income because the retail jobs are gone, and most people are making their purchases from a compny that pays so little in taxes?

Millions of unemployed, more cheaper imports, and fewer workers to contribute to the tax base will be a very long term disaster.

Add to mix even more people unable to work due to lung damage, even if jobs become available, and reasons to have Universal Basic Income, (UBI), is the best option to help the people and the economy to improve.