More and more I’ve become “anti-Amazon”

It’s been something gradually growing for several years. I’ve always been a “support brick and mortar stores!” over online companies, and always felt guilty whenever I purchased something from Amazon, especially as I heard about other stores, from small indie places to larger chains, laying off employees or closing their doors permanently because they couldn’t compete. 

Then I heard about the shifty ways Amazon tries to avoid paying sales tax in most (if not all) states, which forces other companies to “foot the bill”. 

But the creme de la creme for the whole thing came this past holiday season, when I heard more and more about the atrocious ways Amazon treats its warehouse workers and drivers, treating them more like machines than human beings (and the sad truth is, they would probably happily replace their workers with machines if they could).

I had thought that perhaps I would only use Amazon for the purchase of ebooks. But now articles are pouring out about the ways certain “con-authors” (like Faleena Hopkins to name one) abuse the system and Amazon does little or moves in far too late to reprimand these con artists.  I’m not saying these problems don’t happen with other online ebook platforms, but you certainly don’t hear about it with NOOK or Kobo the same way you do with Amazon.

But whether it’s publishing, music, media (TV *and* film), travel, grocery stores, and even non-profit charity work…this company isn’t becoming a monopoly…it *is* one. And that’s terrifying.

When cities and states, governors and mayors are more or less felatting themselves over who gets to be the next Amazon hub, making so many deals like “we’ll never tax you!” or “we’ll never regulate you!” or any other number of shady, “look the other way while we do something illegal or unethical” deals…then this is *not* a company we should support.

I’ve seen so much over the past week about “boycott Amazon!” and “stand with the workers who are striking!” and I agree…but unless we, the consumer, STOP making purchases from this company, then all our reblogs are meaningless.

If you want to purchase ebooks, then use another platform: I recommend Kobo, who have close ties to many indie bookstores and publishers. 

Want print books? Be they old or new, I highly recommend thriftbooks.com

Do your research–we all know there are other resources out there for music and media that aren’t connected to Amazon. Give the competition some of your time and attention–this is the “positive” side to Capitalism, if you will; as consumers we have the power to tell companies what we want. If they want our business, then THEY need to meet our needs and demands, and if they don’t, then we need to take our business someplace else.

Seriously, do your research on companies that practice “conscious capitalism”–these are businesses that usually achieve high scores among employees for ethical work treatment and practices.

And while I’m not versed on all that “Amazon Smile” does for non-profit charities, I always look to charitynavigator.org as a trusted, reliable source.

We really need to put our money where our mouth is; it’s one thing to say we support these causes (and reblog about them) but then when we go back and make various “insta-purchases” with a company that we are cementing more and more with every click into that “world domination monopoly”, then we are basically a bunch of political, hypocritical posers.

DEMAND justice for Amazon workers. DEMAND ethical treatment, fairer wages, and human decency.  DEMAND it and say, “you aren’t getting my business until you make these changes!” And then follow that through by giving your business elsewhere until those changes are made.

Older generations are always saying that the younger ones don’t care, that they’re apathetic and that’s why “all these changes they demand for” never change, because they don’t follow through.

Bullshit. Let’s prove otherwise.