It’s time for Amazon to start paying sales tax

America has a long track record or the dangers of monopolies. With the closing of Borders, Amazon is one step closer to becoming a monopoly. At Mother Jones, Kevin Drum makes a strong case that Amazon maintains its position of strength thanks to the fact that it doesn't collect sales tax.

For all its talk of technology and convenience and selection, Amazon basically stays in business because it can charge slightly lower prices than brick-and-mortar stores. A level playing field might be good for state coffers and the schools and police officers they support, but to Amazon that doesn't matter. It's nothing personal, mind you. Just business.
Local bookstores are more than commercial enterprises. They are social institutions, where people meet, share ideas and organize. This pertains especially to independent book sellers, but it occurs at all bookstores because they tend to attract open-minded socially responsible people. If we don't stop the current trend, the market will be completely dominated by a cyber-bookshop, leaving local communities in the lurch.

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About high school misfits

A couple of years ago, I raised the topic of high school misfits. As I recall more than a few authors of this site commented that they had been high school misfits, or “outsiders.” The June 20, 2011 issue of Time Magazine includes an article titled “Life After High School,” that has some interesting things to say about high school misfits. Before getting to the misfits, what do long term studies say about the kids who were popular in high school?

[R]ecent research suggests that popularity isn't entirely positive. Belonging to the cool crowd is associated with higher rates of drinking, drug use, sexual activity and minor delinquency during adolescence.
What can you say about the kids who are academically successful in high school?
[P]revious analyses have overstated the role of intelligence in economic success. Hard work and the development of capacities like conscientiousness and cooperation also matter for success--not to mention personal satisfaction and fulfillment.
Finally, what is the current thinking about high school “outsiders”?  Alexandra Robbins, author of the new book, The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, argues that high school students

“will be well served in adult life by the same characteristics that made them unpopular in high school. She calls this premise "quirk theory" and describes it this way: "Many of the differences that cause a student to be excluded in school are the identical traits or real-world skills that others will value, love, respect or find compelling about that person in adulthood and outside the school setting."

There.  Doesn't that make you feel better?  While your popular classmates were playing around, you were getting ready for the real world.   And further, as suggested by this same article, outsiders often avoided social activities (or they were excluded), leaving them more time for serious study.

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Generalizing the travel advice of Rick Steves

My daughter and I just returned from a trip to Europe, where travel guru Rick Steves served as our primary guide. We relied heavily on his travel books regarding Berlin, Paris and London. These travel guides are detailed, well-organized and well-written. I highly recommend them to anyone intending to travel to Europe. What I especially like about Rick Steves, though, is his constant urging to live close to the ground while traveling, to work hard to interact with real people and to avoid expensive travel arrangements that prevent you from interacting with others on their terms. This approach does not come naturally to many Americans. Steves thus works hard to prepare Americans for visiting places that are not America. He doesn’t mince his words. Consider, for example, this passage from his London 2011 book, at page 17:

We travel all the way to Europe to enjoy differences-to become temporary locals. You'll experience frustrations. Certain truths that we find "God-given" or "self-evident," such as cold beer, ice in drinks, bottomless cups of coffee, hot showers, and bigger being better, are suddenly not so true. One of the benefits of travel is the eye-opening realization that there are logical, civil, and even better alternatives. Europeans generally like Americans. But if there is a negative aspect to the image the British have of Americans, it's that we are big, loud, aggressive, impolite, rich, superficially friendly, and a bit naive. [More . . . ]

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