Michael – “We have to learn to desire less.”
And we can learn to share more. Maybe we don’t need one of everything each, to use until its planned obsolescence expires, dispose of it and buy a new one. It moves money about and makes profit, but it’s bad for our world. Maybe we can pool our resources, and share our skills. Maybe more community workshops would help, where people teach each other how to fix things and swap useful junk. Maybe we should have community kitchens, where people cook for each other and teach each other their best recipes.
But town centres have been taken over by retail, which seems to be the only activity that can afford town centre business rates. Even necessities like grocery and hardware are being pushed out out to the peripheries, where people need a car to access them. Phones, fashion, finance, betting, pubs, clubs and restaurants are all you’ll find in the high street these days – luxuries and money.