I went to Walmart the other morning to buy headphones. Twenty dollar headphones. Nothing fancy. But apparently, that’s too risky a product to sit on a shelf nowadays. An employee had to unlock a glass case using his phone to hand me a box smaller than my wallet.
What struck me wasn’t the hassle. It was the silence. The store felt more like a library with fluorescent lights. And as I wandered around, I noticed more and more items locked away: baby formula, cosmetics, now basic electronics. It's not just Walmart. Try buying laundry pods or razors at a dollar store lately.
It’s a creeping lockdown, aisle by aisle.
Now, there’s a financial YouTuber, Eurodollar University, who argues that Americans are getting culturally poorer. That the standard of living is eroding slowly, not just in dollars, but in dignity. At first, I thought he was reaching. But standing there, waiting for a man to hand me my own headphones like I was checking out a library book? That made me pause.
We used to be a country of abundance. Now we act like everything is a luxury someone might steal.
Maybe it's loss prevention. Maybe it’s economic anxiety made visible. But it’s hard not to feel like the walls are closing in a little more with each visit.
So here’s my question: When did we start locking up the future? And what’s next, bread behind bulletproof glass?
Let me know in the comments and check out more at jamesbrowntv.substack.com.
On that note, I’m James Brown, and as always, be well.
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