I want to talk about Amazon and what it is doing to America

I feel like this is part of a bigger discussion about a post-employment society, where there are no longer enough jobs for people due to automation and simplification of human jobs. We don't need small businesses anymore because of the big ones, but that totally destroys small communities and nothing comes in their place. People still need to work, but the jobs aren't there. So now what?

Honestly, it's not totally Amazon's fault, it's people that will choose the cheapest option regardless of impact. Instead of spending an extra couple of bucks to support local goods, we just buy on Amazon because it's cheaper and/or we can do it in our PJs without leaving home.

It's actually similar to blaming politicians for the state of our countries. Yes, they are definitely doing their part, but it really only succeeds because the average citizen/consumer allows it to succeed--whether it's through complacency, laziness, greed, fear, or complicitness (I don't think that's a real word, but you get the gist).

I feel the ultimate goal of globalism (or corporatism) is the defeat of community (and the traditional family unit). When people no longer feel a connection to their community, they cease to care about supporting it, and then it erodes. It's also probably one of the reasons "country-folk" are consistently demonized--they still have that community connection in many places, and that stands as a barrier to the goal of both globalism in politics and big business.

I don't think GameStop looking like a Hot Topic has that much to do with Amazon, as much as non-specialty stores in general, and digital games. Really there's not as much of market for a gaming specialty store anymore, especially one with a bad reputation like GameStop.

Really, there's no saving the mom and pop business, and I can't bring myself to trust, like, or give a crap about Wal-Mart or GameStop anymore than I trust, like, or give a crap about Amazon. It's all big business to me, it all goes to the top.

Forcing employees to work on Sunday is terrible, but that was USPS' decision to allow it.

I'm sitting here having this exact conversation with people. What amazon is doing is extremely dangerous to our democracy! Meme aside, they really are going to damage the retail marketplace for decades if its not stopped sooner rather than later.

They are pumping all their profits back into buying up space in all these markets, full speed ahead not even worrying about stable profits or future outlook. They are going to flood the area and force major and mom and pop retail business out of existence.

Its a brilliantly selfish, capitalist move, and one can almost applaud the effort Bezos is putting forth. But still, its not good for anybody but a few people and in the end that is evil. It sucks because I love shopping amazon, but I know I have to vote with my wallet and not give in to the beast.

I'm a fervent Amazon boycotter (if there is such a thing).

We have a popular local electronics store in our area. This store is privately run and the workers know their shit and they have quality products.

An old coworker of mine would act all virtuous about society (mass immigration and integration please/Obama is holy blah blah blah). Well this fucking guy would go to that electronics store, spend time with the employees and learn which product was best, what have you.

He'd then go home and order the products from Amazon so he'd get a deal. It's assholes like him that are killing small businesses.

I have an Amazon pet peeve, I want to be able to choose what company delivers my stuff. USPS and UPS are great, Fedex is fucking nightmare, Fedex has atrocious customer service. A couple months back I ordered a $1000 laptop (by far the most expensive laptop I ever bought but it was the power to run all the bulky programs I like well). It was supposed to be 2 business days (I would be home) but unexpectedly shifts to 4 (which is saturday so I'm okay with that), the next day the driver calls me at work to tell me he tried to deliver. I ask if he can redeliver tomorrow and he says no problem.

On Saturday the status of my package changes to Monday so I call Fedex, and the rep says "oh we don't deliver on weekends, on between 9-5" (meanwhile I'm staring at the Fedex site which has a graphic saying that they even deliver Sundays) so I ask if I can have it held at the Fedex store near my work (I need to be home to sign for the package but I work so I'm not going to be home on a weekday during 9-5).

The rep says she can't do that because I'm not the shipper and only the shipper can change the destination. So she makes me call the supplier and they reroute the package. Thoroughly annoyed with Fedex, about half an hour later the Fedex driver roles up with my package like he said he would, I give him props.

Go into a GameStop and look around. It doesn't have many games in it.

GameStop as a business has a shelf life; it may not survive the next round of consoles unless they do focus on selling non-game products. Remember when Microsoft announced the Xbox One at E3 and said that disc games were non-transferable because of the DRM built into the system? One disc would only work on the first console that scanned it (unless your family plan had multiple Xboxes). Microsoft almost killed GameStop entirely in 2013 until they reversed that policy.

The cost of creating physical media and packaging, the cost of distribution, the cost of buying/renting shelf space at retail stores, the loss in revenue to used game sales and the loss in revenue due to unsold physical copies make physical games a lose-lose for the publishers and developers. Not to mention the man months/man years added to game projects to have them function properly off of physical media - that's not as large of an issue anymore because you are no longer allowed to literally "play the game off disc". You have to do either full installs or iterative installs with known stop points.

It makes very little sense for companies to ship box titles, minus the "grandma saw it on the shelf at walmart and bought it for jonny for Christmas". That can easily be replaced with download codes on the shelf in a box.

I avoid Amazon as much as I can other than reading reviews of products I want to purchase elsewhere. I know I saw the prezdint complaining about Amazon shorting the USP and not paying taxes- not sure what happened with those two issues...I'm sure Amazon has an enormous lobby and can buy any congressman/senator it wants. It seems to me that everything you receive from Amazon is some crummy Chinese made knock-off; the books they sell are some of the cheapest books I've ever purchased. Yeah, amazon sucks and we need another monopoly bust

I have always done my utmost to avoid purchasing physical items off the internet. I see very little point to it as most items that a person needs in their day to day life can be found locally. Some specialty items are difficult to locate but not impossible. I may only be one man but I will be one man who supports local businesses and avoids contributing to the growing giants of commerce. While I am not against capitalism, I feel that when businesses grow large enough to dictate the terms of our country, there may be an issue at hand.

On the issue of shipping, I feel as though the US should renegotiate the terms that Amazon enjoys with the USPS. It seems as though it is a luxury of abuse that happens on a a gigantic scale, especially now that the USPS is forcing employees to work on Sunday. Public funds should not be wasted just so that Amazon gets a good deal on shipping and everyone can continue to screw local businesses.

In all honesty, I feel the lack of awareness that people demonstrate when they support businesses like Amazon is alarming. These same people support globalism because that concept equals cheap goods and services for them. The reality of this is that those who support Amazon support a selfish style of living in which they receive the best price no matter the cost to others. They do not care where the item was manufactured, nor how it arrives. They only wish to receive their Nintendo Switch as fast as possible for as cheap as possible, regardless of whether or not anyone benefits from their purchase besides themselves.

But, that's just my two cents on the matter.

I feel bad for the guy, but many people have to work Sundays. Good luck finding a low skill job that doesn't require it.

Similar issues popped up here in Australia when an entire chain of book stores shut down (Borders) due to the likes of Amazon and the Book Depository. I think some of it is a need for brick and mortar stores to adapt but also the struggle of small business vs international mega corps. I wonder if it's going to change soon though. There are winds of change in the culture, I've witnessed a resurgence in board games, DnD, and in person social activities lately. Perhaps the social techno sphere is losing it's novelty and people are craving the things technology cannot provide. Human contact and socialisation. Time will tell but here's hoping.