I think this post really sums up the dilemma! Ultimately, I think we should bring it back to the issue that’s out of our control — that it is basically a monopoly now (and that that is why they’re being sued!) Most of us who care about the planet and people and good things agree Amazon is evil, but they also have the power. While we could live without it, we also need affordable alternatives then. Right now, Amazon is the most accessible and affordable option in many cases, and for say, disabled people, that’s huge. Sometimes it’s life or death. People had babies and families and everything before Amazon and were mostly okay, but honestly, depending on how far back you go, disabled people were much less okay at a much higher rate. I’m not necessarily saying Amazon specifically tipped the scale, but things like affordable grocery and medication delivery have been game changers. And Amazon did normalize that accessibility. The downfall is that the companies that own most affordable delivery services are run by… evil people in power. But… such is capitalism. We’re unfortunately not the ones in power, we’re just trying to live. 😭
Great read, Kate! I really appreciated how you didn’t just say “let’s all quit Amazon” because it truly is more complicated.
Yes, indeed! I think if we build Earth 2.0 with accessibility front and center, then EVERYONE can enjoy the wonders of modern living. Yes, cities should be walkable and have great public transit. But as a person with a disability, having my car available to get me where I'm going when I need to be there is INVALUABLE. I couldn't work and try to commute to my doctor's appointments all over the city using public transit in LA (nor could I afford to Uber/Lyft). There are not enough hours in the day! Plus, anyone with mobility issues knows how horrible it is to wait for a bus or a train with no place to sit. More extreme temperatures will make that even harder going forward. But imagine if there were five different Amazons creating that much more competition to drive down prices and provide customers with a better experience. Why can't capitalism actually do what is claims to do? (Never mind -- I answered my own question. :)
Such good points here, E. I wonder what it would all look like if the ones in power made decisions based on bettering the lives it serves. It feels a little dense to even type that thought out, but here I am. Thank you so much for reading and for your thoughtfulness
Your wonderful post made me think of a friend who studies the history of farming. We were all lamenting how we spend too much time looking at cat videos online and how we could be -- should be -- frolicking in the grass. But my friend reminded us if we weren't watching cat videos (or ordering diaper cream and license plate covers on Amazon), we'd probably be out toiling in the fields as subsistence farmers. I think in many ways we're romanticized pastoral living (see #tradwife) as somehow being more noble, when the issue is about corporate homogeny. Sure, there's every reason to hate on Amazon (let me count the ways), but I don't want to go back to a world where I can't get the particular supplement I need for my connective tissue disorder or where polio is still a threat. The technology itself isn't necessarily the problem but how we use it. Fire can be massively destructive, but it can also be constructive and helpful. Prime and all the other modern manifestations are another kind of fire. What we choose to do with it will determine whether we burn ourselves to the ground or whether we use it to provide equity, accessibility, and help.
"The technology itself isn't necessarily the problem but how we use it."
This is exactly it! I think the machine that Amazon has built is both impressive and critical. I don't think there's any need to go backward in this sense, but I do wonder if there is too much emphasis put on personal responsibility when we are given access to something that can cause such harm.
It is SO important that you have access to your supplement (and that everyone has access to their everythings)... but the model relies on each of us to have some, what is it? self control? to only buy what is "necessary," otherwise we'll continue to trash the planet. Amazon (and every company like it) has designed its platform to be frictionless and addictive, so how do we help ourselves? Who do we hold accountable for the waste, emissions, etc?
Oh, you've hit the nail on the head. We have pushed the responsibility onto the consumer to determine what is "necessary" (whatever that means) and to then bear the onus of dealing with the downstream effects. But those are mostly hidden to us (by design, in some ways), so we're all ostrich-ing it. It's like the essay about how no one knows how to make a pencil because there are so many international players involved in making something so simple. Asking consumers in general to police this themselves has failed us for 40 years, so I think we have to have governmental intervention to shift that burden back to producers who can actually tackle the bigger supply chain issues.
And all of this butts up against the human desire to make stuff! Lots of totally unnecessary stuff! Do I "need" new canvases to paint on? What about all the 3D printed objects my nephews have created just messing around? We don't need any of that, in a Maslov's hierarchy sense. And that's not even the desire to buy that's instilled in us from constant bombardment with advertising. We're up against a lot of different factors.
I have certainly swung in the other, non-buying direction. Since 2008, my sister and I made a pact not to buy anything new that wasn't consumable or a pair of underwear. That first year of literally buying nothing was HARD because the habit of buying was so strong. But once that went away, I now see everything as landfill matter and can't bring myself to buy much of anything. Malls are now essentially nuclear fallout zones. It's actually made me quite sad.
And I don't see asking people to stop buying like I have as a reasonable solution. I feel like we need to hold more corporations at every level responsible for their consumptive ways, and we also need a massive cultural shift that sees durability and reuse as indicators of wealth. We'd connected "thriving" to disposing, and in some case (like medical waste), that's true. But to your point, single use plastics, when it comes to needles, I'm all for. But why we need every little ketchup container and every tag on every piece of fruit to be plastic is beyond me. Stop subsidizing oil? That's at least a start!
I think this post really sums up the dilemma! Ultimately, I think we should bring it back to the issue that’s out of our control — that it is basically a monopoly now (and that that is why they’re being sued!) Most of us who care about the planet and people and good things agree Amazon is evil, but they also have the power. While we could live without it, we also need affordable alternatives then. Right now, Amazon is the most accessible and affordable option in many cases, and for say, disabled people, that’s huge. Sometimes it’s life or death. People had babies and families and everything before Amazon and were mostly okay, but honestly, depending on how far back you go, disabled people were much less okay at a much higher rate. I’m not necessarily saying Amazon specifically tipped the scale, but things like affordable grocery and medication delivery have been game changers. And Amazon did normalize that accessibility. The downfall is that the companies that own most affordable delivery services are run by… evil people in power. But… such is capitalism. We’re unfortunately not the ones in power, we’re just trying to live. 😭
Great read, Kate! I really appreciated how you didn’t just say “let’s all quit Amazon” because it truly is more complicated.
Yes, indeed! I think if we build Earth 2.0 with accessibility front and center, then EVERYONE can enjoy the wonders of modern living. Yes, cities should be walkable and have great public transit. But as a person with a disability, having my car available to get me where I'm going when I need to be there is INVALUABLE. I couldn't work and try to commute to my doctor's appointments all over the city using public transit in LA (nor could I afford to Uber/Lyft). There are not enough hours in the day! Plus, anyone with mobility issues knows how horrible it is to wait for a bus or a train with no place to sit. More extreme temperatures will make that even harder going forward. But imagine if there were five different Amazons creating that much more competition to drive down prices and provide customers with a better experience. Why can't capitalism actually do what is claims to do? (Never mind -- I answered my own question. :)
Such good points here, E. I wonder what it would all look like if the ones in power made decisions based on bettering the lives it serves. It feels a little dense to even type that thought out, but here I am. Thank you so much for reading and for your thoughtfulness
Your wonderful post made me think of a friend who studies the history of farming. We were all lamenting how we spend too much time looking at cat videos online and how we could be -- should be -- frolicking in the grass. But my friend reminded us if we weren't watching cat videos (or ordering diaper cream and license plate covers on Amazon), we'd probably be out toiling in the fields as subsistence farmers. I think in many ways we're romanticized pastoral living (see #tradwife) as somehow being more noble, when the issue is about corporate homogeny. Sure, there's every reason to hate on Amazon (let me count the ways), but I don't want to go back to a world where I can't get the particular supplement I need for my connective tissue disorder or where polio is still a threat. The technology itself isn't necessarily the problem but how we use it. Fire can be massively destructive, but it can also be constructive and helpful. Prime and all the other modern manifestations are another kind of fire. What we choose to do with it will determine whether we burn ourselves to the ground or whether we use it to provide equity, accessibility, and help.
"The technology itself isn't necessarily the problem but how we use it."
This is exactly it! I think the machine that Amazon has built is both impressive and critical. I don't think there's any need to go backward in this sense, but I do wonder if there is too much emphasis put on personal responsibility when we are given access to something that can cause such harm.
It is SO important that you have access to your supplement (and that everyone has access to their everythings)... but the model relies on each of us to have some, what is it? self control? to only buy what is "necessary," otherwise we'll continue to trash the planet. Amazon (and every company like it) has designed its platform to be frictionless and addictive, so how do we help ourselves? Who do we hold accountable for the waste, emissions, etc?
Thank you for your thoughtfulness here!
Oh, you've hit the nail on the head. We have pushed the responsibility onto the consumer to determine what is "necessary" (whatever that means) and to then bear the onus of dealing with the downstream effects. But those are mostly hidden to us (by design, in some ways), so we're all ostrich-ing it. It's like the essay about how no one knows how to make a pencil because there are so many international players involved in making something so simple. Asking consumers in general to police this themselves has failed us for 40 years, so I think we have to have governmental intervention to shift that burden back to producers who can actually tackle the bigger supply chain issues.
And all of this butts up against the human desire to make stuff! Lots of totally unnecessary stuff! Do I "need" new canvases to paint on? What about all the 3D printed objects my nephews have created just messing around? We don't need any of that, in a Maslov's hierarchy sense. And that's not even the desire to buy that's instilled in us from constant bombardment with advertising. We're up against a lot of different factors.
I have certainly swung in the other, non-buying direction. Since 2008, my sister and I made a pact not to buy anything new that wasn't consumable or a pair of underwear. That first year of literally buying nothing was HARD because the habit of buying was so strong. But once that went away, I now see everything as landfill matter and can't bring myself to buy much of anything. Malls are now essentially nuclear fallout zones. It's actually made me quite sad.
And I don't see asking people to stop buying like I have as a reasonable solution. I feel like we need to hold more corporations at every level responsible for their consumptive ways, and we also need a massive cultural shift that sees durability and reuse as indicators of wealth. We'd connected "thriving" to disposing, and in some case (like medical waste), that's true. But to your point, single use plastics, when it comes to needles, I'm all for. But why we need every little ketchup container and every tag on every piece of fruit to be plastic is beyond me. Stop subsidizing oil? That's at least a start!