From what Derb has convinced us all is America’s Newspaper of Record:
Fire the hard-sellers, lower the price of the sofa by $200 and you’ve got IKEA, where most items can simply be picked up and rolled out the door. At the entrance there is a sign: “No one will bother you.” Five words, one libertarian ideal.
IKEA automates, meaning fewer surly minimum-wage zombies to deal with at every turn. At checkout, you can scan and ring up the merch yourself, meaning shorter waits. Conservatives should be pleased that self-sufficiency is taught as a character imperative at IKEA. Wrote Oliver Burkeman in The Guardian: “IKEA’s moral crusade extends uncompromisingly to the customer. Whether you like it or not, it intends to teach you the value of good, honest, simple hard work. Self-assembly, viewed from this perspective, is more than a cost-cutting measure: it’s a tool of evangelism, designed to make you sweat for your own edification.”