Faangs for the memory
Valentine’s Day. But no restaurants are open. Everything’s still one global internet shop owned by Bezos, the Christian philanthropist. The G7 doesn’t run the world. It’s Faangs: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google. And the pandemic’s played into their hands, forcing everyone to use their services. Today they’re as much part of our landscape as the milkman and the coalman used to be in mine in the ‘50s. When we look out of our prison homes, all we see are delivery vehicles and supermarket vans. Inside, we’re all clicking and ordering. But I yearn for the days when we had large department stores and high streets thronged with people. I feel for traditional retailers who have seen their livelihoods stolen by Faangs, the former having to pay exorbitant business rates far greater than those with out of town giant warehouses. As lockdown eases: increase corporation tax for Faangs, revive high streets by increasing free shoppers’ carparks and reduce business rates for shops. Maybe then it’ll be Faangs for the memory!
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