General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why Jeff Bezos’ Amazon Is More Evil Than Walmart and McDonald’s [View all]daredtowork
(3,732 posts)"If it's cheaper for me at this second, that justifies everything..."
-- The loss of local bookstores
-- The destruction of the publishing industry, and the devaluation of the work of authors (reducing most of them to "crowd-sourcers" for Amazon's middle-man mega-projects.
-- Depriving the US and States over huge tax base (through destruction of bricks and mortar businesses as well as its own tax avoidance)
-- Exploitation of temp labor, harsh warehouse conditions, famous "shark tank" continual elimination of the weakest at the management level --> all serve to reshape the economy in a way that's good for the entrepreneur at the top, but radically decreases the quality of life for the workers forced to struggle to survive in this context. As Amazon eliminates competition, this is increasingly all that's left.
As ND-Dem has shown over the last few days, the list goes on and one. The temporary benefit the poor might get does not justify them undermining the rest of the US economy and culture.
But wait - do you say they *need* to?
I'm on welfare, and I haven't felt any such need. In fact it is impossible for me to use Amazon. For one thing, this would require me to use a credit card or draw on my bank account - either of these moves would disqualify me from welfare where I live: Oakland doesn't believe in people providing for basic needs for themselves beyond shelter (only up to $336/month) and food. I you obtain money to spend on basic necessities, it gets deducted from the shelter money. Therefore, you are expected to go without electricity, utilities, transportation, hygiene products, toilet paper, etc...
But I digress. Let me pretend I get SSI instead of General Assistance Welfare. Woot, after spending most of the money on rent and then picking up groceries from a food bank, I have $50 left in discretionary income! Am I going to order stuff online and take advantage of free shipping?
Nope. I'm going to go into the local drug store that can provide me with shampoo, toothpaste, and toilet paper RIGHT NOW. Even if it would technically be cheaper if I ordered it from Amazon, there is something about browsing for the physical product and chancing upon a sale that just makes more sense to the human brain. And the human-brain-on-poverty usually needs things RIGHT NOW. They aren't going to wait for stuff to be shipped. And they aren't going to buy lawn chairs and china sets. Poor people buy basic stuff like food, house cleaning products, personal hygiene products, and over-the-counter meds. They tend to make spur-of-the-moment decisions based on where they are in a huge list of tasks to deal with and whether they happen to have the money to get what they need at that precise moment.
Amazon is not a boon to poor people. Amazon is a boon to CHEAP people. And I would suggest that these CHEAP people are actually rather well off people who revel in obtaining a smart bargain. But they theorize getting a good deal would also be good for the poor, too. Sadly, real life doesn't happen that way. The poor don't have the vantage point required to shop and compare, to delay their gratification, to leverage their credit record.