It’s not the economy; it’s Amazon Prime! Even though many name stores have an on-line presence, the best deal in price and delivery is most often though them.

Unless something is too heavy for Fed-X and UPS or we need to see it hands on before buying we use the Net.

One qualifier in our case is that most of the Big-box stores are one to two hours away.

That BTW also has us free from the noise smell and unsightliness of contemporary civilization. Our place could be described as Gulch-lite.”

The only "rebounding" in the economy are the government's bouncing checks falling into the hands of the moochers.

I never really got reactions like that of the Seal employees. You get paid, you work. No work, no pay. Go home. I always saw that as "the contract" between workers and employers - cash. There really are no other contrats, no other promises or loyalty. I know...I worked as an engineer in the aerospace industry. I've seen seasoned, excellent engineers asked to put their sh*t in a box while a guard looked over their shoulder and escorted them out after 25 years of dedication.

I agree that this is just how capitalism works, as Amazon and others expand, brick and mortar will continue to decline for retail. However, I think a big part of it, having worked in retail myself, is that people have more and more of an entitlement attitude. When I was a kid we didn't have a lot of money, but my mom always bought pricier things knowing they would last longer. The "Quality over Quantity" mantra is no more in retail. Customers expect to get free stuff even if it is a quality item. They bring in coupons and haggle and complain until they walk out with $100 worth of merchandise for $5. Theft is also a huge problem. Then everyone complains that retail people don't make a livable wage, but ask them if they are willing to pay retail or even sale price for anything and they will laugh in your face. Of course this does not apply to everyone, but the entitlement mentality is spreading... I wonder why...

This is creative destruction, the normal process of a free economy. It's not related to one politician. Fine jobs are disappearing forever and new jobs no one even imagined are appearing. The process will keep going and accelerate. Amazingly, one day, probably in my lifetime if I life long, most of the group of HomeDepot, Google, McDonalds, Apple, P&G, and Facebook will be places where there once were good jobs making product/services that don't exist anymore.

It's not about politicians. Most of us would not want politicians to issue a directive stopping firing people from old jobs, hiring people into new jobs, etc.