Reply #18: Upscale or low rent -- the middle range is disappearing [View All]

[Armstead]

There's still an active arts and crafts scene. But more and more is is upscale and yuppified. At the otehr end of the scale are cute, cheap things made by Chinese slaves.

What's sad is that the middle level producers are being crowded out. That has larger economic implications for cottage indusdtries and small and mid-sized production here in the US.

Ultimately it's an example of how we are choking ourselves with our attitudes. We want cheap, but we don't think of why things are cheap.

(I try to buy local whenever possible, but I buy my share of imported cheap stuff too, so I'm not being self-righteous.)