We won't be able to shop in our local store in about 10 years' time, we are told.

Forget all the essences you are surrounded by in your street's corner store and get ready to replace that one-to-one contact. Instead, leave your phobias at home and head for the giant metal box where tonnes of mass-produced items are shelved by hands of cheap labour. As if this wasn't enough, let's add another component to the story: instead of walking to the shops, acknowledging all those faces on the way - enjoy the "culture of individualism" as we know it, get in your car and throw emissions of CO2 into the atmosphere.

This is only the beginning of a trend that seems to be emerging fast in the west, and one that many countries elsewhere in the world will have to fight against if they want to avoid our fate. Fact is, apart from London where you can find exotic fruit and vegetable stores wherever you are, it's hard to find a varied retail alternative to the likes of M&S, Tesco, Waitrose…

I was having a conversation on the topic the other day, with my parents. They've always promoted local retail and I was left to pick up the pieces of my confused mind after they told me they had redecorated the whole house following a shopping spree in IKEA. Out of all people it had to come from those who had taught me to stand up against the spectre of capitalism. My dreams were shattered and I began wondering whether it's possible to stand by what you believe, and whether it ever was.

The concept of trade has been around since the creation of ancient civilisations. It's understood that around 3000 BC Egyptians traded materials that would later be used in the making of jewellery. But it wasn't until the end of the eighteenth century that the concept of free-market was envisaged. Before this point, selling and buying goods freely was restricted to the boundaries of each country. Once restrictions were lifted, many big money players took that opportunity to set up their headquarters in countries where labour and resources were relatively cheap; and sell their products in countries where the demand and cost of living were less cheap.

Take the example of IKEA (by now you can already imagine how painful that conversation was to my socialist sensibilities). The super store not only comes in the form of the biggest Western bazaar of all but it's also a composition of four letters that promotes an image and a culture; a fresh and chic look for your living room and a very cheap alternative to high street retail.

It's easy to wonder why everyone goes to the same places, eats the same kind of food, dresses according to a set of standards and chooses to decorate their living room with products from IKEA (delivered straight to your doorstep and assembled if you choose to). I used to think it was because people lacked personality. But in a society where people barely have time to eat during the week and where the cost of living is not as low as we would like, I've reached one conclusion. Human contact seems to have disappeared from our priority list to darker demons such as time, money and effort. And then, of course, there's lack of personality.