Quartzsite is the Ideal Late Capitalist City

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Because most winter visitors to Quartzsite behave as full-time consumers during their stay there, Quartzsite is the ideal late capitalist city.

Quartzsite has evolved a highly developed market system to serve the needs of the campers. As Quartzsite grew, a few individuals decided to market to the needs and lifestyles of the travelers themselves in addition to the planned rock and mineral show.

Quartzsite has become a destination for merchandise discounters who have found the population to be eager consumers. As more discounters have come to Quartzsite, residents of Phoenix and other nearby cities have begun to make special trips to load up on bargains.

But bargains are only one aspect of Quartzsite. The connections that individuals bring from throughout the world allow them to draw on unusual sources for goods to sell. A wide variety of goods can now be found at Quartzsite: fresh shrimp cocktails hundreds of miles from the ocean are available next to cow skulls. African sculpture is popular, a demonstration of Quartzsite's role in a global network of nomadic trade. This diversification was not planned. It occurred as a collection of a few individuals reacted to local interest. As it has become increasingly idiosyncratic and has extended into culture. Numerous cultural attractions have been developed at the markets, especially involving engines, machines, and contraptions.

The shopping district at Quartzsite is especially important in this slow transformation from a simple market to a self-organizing community. Because they are closed to RV and automotive traffic, the walking areas serve as the primary conduits for the flow of people and information. Many more people go to Quartzsite just for this sense of impromptu community. As visitors arrive from around the world and mull over the value of useless objects, interactions between strangers in random configurations occur and knowledge and shared experience can be easily shared. With 1.5 million visitors a year, all of these seemingly random conversations carry an enormous amount of information. Each single one is insignificant, but all of them together can have vast influence on the community.

next: An Economy of Disappearance