Stop using Amazon!
I have been really frustrated lately with the blind spot people seem to have about Amazon, especially people who are "good liberals" and probably vote democratic and think they are on the right side of history, yet use Amazon without thinking very much about it at all. The degree to which we are pleased to exchange our values in action for what we perceive to be convenience is disappointing.
Amazon is so integrated into so much of the internet, Amazon Web Services notwithstanding. I am thinking about it again for two reasons. First, I had a long conversation with my sister about it this weekend, and we talking about convenience and the value of any type of action. We were talking about how much people order from Amazon, and how easy it is to throw something in your cart for two day shipping. She said, well what do you do? You still shop at Wal-Mart probably, or Target? And I said yes, sometimes I do. But sometimes I order from Swim Outlet instead of buying goggles on Amazon. I go to Dicks a lot more, which is a business that started locally. I order coffee from Deans Beans. It's a mild pain in the ass, but it is a very small amount of friction and I think that's okay. It's okay to not have things in your hand 3 hours after they pop into your head. I also sometimes just don't buy stuff. I think about the stuff and then I just don't buy it and that's okay too. Also, two day shipping doesn't exist for me anymore even when using Prime! It never came back in my area after covid, so half the time anything I would order on Amazon arrives in about the same time as anything else.
Amazon has a patina of convenience and ease. It purports to offer a frictionless shopping experience, but this isn't true. It has predatory and monopolistic business practices and the convenience it offers wanes by the day.
My sister also made the very good point that if lots of people absent mindedly put one or two items in their carts to order from Amazon and think it's no big deal, we should apply that same logic to acts of goodness or service. We often get paralyzed wondering how to do good things and help these days, but doing one good thing, or taking one action here and there adds up.
Secondly, there is a blogger I follow who makes a point to link books through bookshop dot org, which is a good website. She talks about supporting your local bookstore and she just posted today a massive list of her favorite amazon prime day purchases. I have like 4 disparate items that I wanted to buy before my trip next week, so I was looking to see if they were on Amazon so I could get them quickly. I forgot it's Prime Day or Week or whatever, and almost every item was like $15 cheaper if I just signed up for Prime at the same time. So many influencers post huge lists of their favorite Prime Day deals! These are people who would probably identify as democrats or even progressives and are just being fucking obtuse and not connecting the dots. Why is that? Why volunteer yourself to write up an unbidden multi-page ad for Amazon? I know the answer to that. They have affiliate programs and they profit from the links. They have an Amazon Storefront where they get money when their followers buy. Even charity orgs set up Amazon Wishlist where people can purchase things for others in need.
Amazon gets a pass when it absolutely should not. Their labor practices are abhorrent. They have begun their own shipping company but do not pay taxes to support the roads they place wear and tear upon. They do not offer health insurance, so they contribute to the general weakening of the US healthcare system. They do not offer fair wages, which results in stress on social services in the communities in which they operate. They are contributing significantly to excess waste in the environment. Prime Video is shit and Amazon music is fuckin stupid. Bezos was at the inauguration.
Why do they get a pass? Why do people who otherwise think they care about things like the environment, labor practices and local health care have this persistent blind spot when it comes to Amazon?
STOP USING AMAZON! Cancel PRIME!
You probably won't be perfect at it, I know I am not. I still order a few times a year. Sometimes I make the choice for convenience. But what the fuck! At least we can all agree to try!
