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April 06, 2005

THE DEMISE OF RURAL BUSINESS (OR, "OH WELL, NEVER MIND")

For the self-appointed "countryside lobby", the only thing that is nearly as fun as whining for subsidies and tariffs, is whining about the demise of small rural businesses such as pubs and shops -- presumably with an eye to what the government should be doing about it. What, then, should the government be doing about it?

As one who felt the sharp end of the rural-closure stick many years back, I feel I am as well qualified as any to say this: Nothing at all.

Most attribute the closure of local shops to supermarkets like Tesco "putting them out of business". This is, of course, true. Yet, what this really means is that people are shopping at such chains for their own reasons -- a wider product range and lower prices being primary among them. Small businesses are closing, therefore, because people are not using them.

This may seem like stating the obvious, because it is. Yet, in this light, the case for government intervention in the matter falls apart, because what they really mean is this: people should be told where they can and cannot shop. The values and priorities of shoppers must be overridden by the values and priorities of the countryside lobby. Of course, this fact alone does not necessarily negate the case for government action. The government overrides -- and rightly -- the values and priorities of all sorts of unpleasant folks, like thieves and murderers. But I feel it is self-evident in this case that people know their own interests better than the government does, and that the interests of the majority should take precedence.

Is the demise of rural business sad? Of course. It is always saddening to see the old ways of things pass away, but this is no excuse to make laws or policies that benefit minorities to the detriment of everyone else.

(P.S. I'm sorry about the hideous number of typos in the original; I was copying quickly from a dead-tree version of it. I'm also sorry I haven't fixed this site's appearance in Firefox. I really will get round to that some time this week, or month, or at least some time before the Apocalypse...)

Posted by Lewis at April 6, 2005 11:51 PM