He inveighed against the “ruinous and devastating effect of sending the profits out of our local communities to a common center, Wall Street.” Chain<br />stores, he warned parents, closed the “door of opportunity” for their children, who might otherwise grow up to become “prosperous business leaders.”<br />To save Main Street, state lawmakers in the 1930s passed “fair trade” legislation<br />that set floors for retail prices, protecting small-town manufacturers and retailers from big business’s economies of scale.<br />Through global freelancing platforms like Upwork, for example, rural<br />and small-town Americans can find jobs anywhere in world, using abilities and talents they already have.<br />These laws permitted manufacturers to dictate prices for their products in a state (which is where<br />that now-meaningless phrase “manufacturer’s suggested retail price” comes from); if a manufacturer had a price agreement with even one retailer in a state, other stores in the state could not discount that product.<br />Americans, regardless of education or geographical location, have marketable skills in the global economy: They speak English<br />and understand the nuances of communicating with Americans — something that cannot be easily shipped overseas.<br />From the beginning of our country’s history, rural and small-town Americans have been on the losing side of a rising market economy.<br />What’s novel is that today, the underlying values of Main Street — living<br />and working with autonomy in your own small community — can be attained, as long as you are willing to find that work online.
