Amazon's impending acquisition of Whole Foods has threatened not only its competitors but America's shopping culture as a whole. So "Real Time" host Bill Maher dedicated his "New Rules" segment on Friday to the declining retail industry.
“Americans no longer shop 'til they drop,” Maher said Friday night. “They click 'til they’re sick.”
This abrupt change in the way Americans shop has endangered shopping malls and put some big box stores out of business.
"The jobs we’re losing aren’t in coal, they’re at Kohl’s,” Maher said.
Americans haven't heard a peep from Trump on the changing retail industry. His focus seems to be on coal miners and truck drivers.
"What is this fetish Trump has with coal miners? Do they have a pee tape on him?" Maher asked his audience. "Why do Trump and his fans care so much about some jobs and not at all about others. We know that coal mining is 95 percent male and 95 percent white, but I'm sure that's not it."
There was a reason why the U.S. was transitioning to clean energy, Maher noted Friday.
"Mining coal isn't very good for you," he said. "Neither is burning it. There is a reason why there is over a billion and a half people in China but you can only see four of them. Why are we working so hard to preserve the worse job this side of deodorant tester."
The political satirist then pointed out that the U.S. did not make such a big fuss when gas lamps were succeeded by light bulbs.
"When someone comes along with a better idea, you get shit-canned," Maher said. "Thousands of Americans used to work as lampighters, then Edison came along with this light bulb. Why didn't President Grant do something to stop that? Because you can't stop progress."
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