This sounds like another reason to vote for Bernie!
21
I used to encourage others to use Prime until I experienced a theft by a Prime delivery drive (unknown entity). I cancelled Prime to keep those criminals away from my house. If I ever buy anything on Amazon it is shipped to one of the lockers.
Amazon attracts corruption. Who wooda thunk it?
5
There were 5 employees at the Staten Island “Protest”—AstroTurf in the purest sense.
4
What about starting with paying a fair amount of taxes? Amazon pays about 8% that's a joke especially compared to my personal tax rate of about 35%.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/live-updates/general-election/fact-checking-the-second-democratic-debate/does-amazon-pay-any-taxes/?arc404=true
26
There is one word that describes Jeff Besos and his Amazon behemoth: GLUTINOUS.
10
These malcontents are free to quit and become unemployed again.
10
So $15 an hour for pushing carts around in a warehouse isn't enough? That was the big stink was last year and now that Amazon's paying a living wage, all of a sudden that's not good enough, the magic number is $20 and Amazon needs to provide child care and build affordable housing in its logistics communities. It's not enough that Amazon creates jobs and contributes immensely to the tax base but now they're expected to be the public safety net for everyone who works for them? Sounds like some lame brained Socialist idea.
21
I used to do whole-pay-check but within about 6-months of Amazon acquisition the whole atmosphere and product mix changed -- and the place got over crowded. THE main reason for shopping at Amazon was customer service and hassle free returns - no longer true - and item returned [in original pkg and unused] that was RECEIVED by Amazon on Oct 25 is still awaiting refund.
5
Jeff Bezos is one sick and dangerous dude; brilliant yes, but in a Bond villain sort of way. As profiled recently in "The Atlantic", the notoriously stingy billionaire sees himself as humanity's savior, envisioning trillions of humans populating the solar system in enormous canisters. There is no point in being charitable here on Earth, because as Bezos sees it, the planet is doomed due to overpopulation and limited resources, so what's his answer? Sell people more stuff as effortlessly as possible! Everything he does actually accelerates the Doomsday he predicts. He's seized on human weakness, and a rampantly consumerist society to bring about his own self-fulfilling prophesy.
14
How is Amazon responsible for the well being of everyone in the communities that "host" them? What happened to self accountability and responsibility? Amazon has not enslaved these people. This is ridiculous. Athena would love for Amazon to go broke providing housing and professional tier wages to unskilled workers who move packages for a living.
16
@David
How are they responsible? For starters, because Amazon received sweet tax breaks as incentives to go there in the first place. If the community isn't revitalized as promised, they are breaking their end of the bargain.
It's the Pottery Barn rule: you broke it, you bought it.
30
When you look at Amazon's results vs the government's results we may want to crown Jeff Bezos as "emperor for life."
9
I’d like to see a study comparing how Amazon warehouse workers are faring in different countries. I don’t think Amazon employees are paid any more in Canada than in the U.S,, but they don’t seem to have the same problems here.
Amazon has built a few distribution centres in areas inaccessible by public transit, but that’s just stupidity on their part. They probably will have trouble finding enough people willing to work there. Maybe if they’ll provide a free shuttle bus or set up carpooling. Affordable housing is a challenge for sure, but is this Amazon’s fault? What’s your government doing to provide social safety nets for those with lower incomes? Ours is still not doing enough, but it seems to be doing more than yours.
2
Ultimately, historically, retail is survival of the fittest. Amazon is the fittest. Wake up: big box retailers, national and regional chains and small mom and pops alike are all out to make a buck--it's called capitalism. And workling at a Walmart or a Macy's is so great? Think again.
11
so...who is funding this Athena organization? Where did they get their funding?
3
I think Athena should consider unionization efforts and put together a war chest to cover legal fees and help out Amazon employees who are fired for participating in such efforts.
This suggestion is obviously very simplistic and fraught with pitfalls but perhaps Athena could round up the services of lawyers willing to donate their precious billable hours.
Perhaps Athena might seek out advice and assistance from other established and powerful unions.
Just a thought for what it’s worth.
3
There is "Too Much" at stake to allow Amazon to continue to roam free of regulation, same with FB. The reason for this is their CEOs have shown no true regard for the impact of their management of this great power of theirs on the public at large. The EU has been alone in addressing some of the ills of online super powers, the archaic actions of the leaders of DC is consistent with the ages of those leaders, they don't get it. The scope of this is just beyond their mental grasp.
Please do NOT take me for a basher of these Internet groups, I don't use them & I don't tell others about using them. I love my personal info & ask others to leave me out of their FB & Amazon dialogue. As for DC, oh well, what can I say?
I like & use Walmart/Walmart online, Target/Target online etc. If a company is totally online and is competing with a B&M/online organization, the totally online will lose every time with me. That's just me. I wish to HIGH HEAVENS that Walmart had not acceded international online to the other companies, I would be buying thousand$ worth of items this season. As it is this year, I may spend $200 as a max. The onlines have the goods I crave but their hassle, poor personnel, etc make it a no-brainer for me to do without.
@Brian from FL also addresses the many truck drivers caught in this "mess".
1
“'Every day, ships, trucks, trains and airplanes bring an estimated 21,500 diesel truckloads of merchandise to 21 Amazon warehouses in the four-county region,' the Economic Roundtable report said. It calculated that Amazon trucks last year created $642 million in 'uncompensated public costs' for noise, road wear, accidents and harmful emissions."
There are approximately 3.5 million professional truck drivers in the United States, according to estimates by the American Trucking Association. There are 1,608,168 companies registered with the USDOT as of 2017 Census. Approximately 2 drivers per every US DOT registered company. There are 1,456,249 registered with the USDOT as of 2017 Census which are "for hire," "private fleet," or both. Using 80/20 rule, the total number of people employed in the industry, including those in positions that do not entail driving, exceeds 8.7 million.
Amazon, UberFreight, relentless automation, low rates and low pay threaten the entire supply chain. No where in the Athena discussion concerning Amazon is there any mention of the Amazon effect on trucking.
6
I once shipped exclusively on Amazon, but if you’re a smart shopper you realize Walmart, Etsy, Target, EBay also offer free shipping and even better delivery than Amazon. Amazon is NOT free shipping you pay a large fee for it in addition to padded shipping within the product price. Low prices equate to cheap and shoddy goods from China, or factory seconds in less purchasing from particular brands.
15
I refuse to buy from Amazon and instead buy directly from the source company or buy locally. I would much rather buy my books from the neighborhood independent bookstore or borrow from the public library. Groceries are bought from my local co-op or farmers market. My life is slower and much more satisfying. I do not need to support this Amazon Zeitgeist of frenetic consumerism.
27
Me too, JG. I try to support local businesses as much as possible, food shopping almost entirely from our local food coops and farms and buying other products online only on occasion, but NEVER from Amazon. It's just hypocritical to criticize Jeff Bezos while supporting him at the same time.
14
The $1 wage/$.24 public assistance ratio reminds me of an ad campaign I saw at Walmart a few years ago: 'Please donate to allow Walmart associates to buy a Thanksgiving turkey." My first thought was "perhaps Walmart could pay a living wage to allow them to buy their own turkey."
More broadly, this is but one example of an epidemic: the abuse of public goods--roads, rails, airports, Medicaid, food stamps--by corporate behemoths who then dodge their tax obligations that fund these goods, in the process impoverishing their employees while boosting their market cap and shareholder value. This is the level to which American capitalism has sunk.
All the gains of the past 40 years have accrued to capital, and none to labor, in contrast to the much more evenly divided profits of the previous 30. These are policy choices--it is not pre-ordained.
40
The median annual compensation for Amazon employees is $28,446 (Bloomberg) vs a median of $24,200 for all of US retail sales (Bureau of Labor Statistics). I wouldn’t look to Amazon employees to fund these activists.
8
If Amazon workers are looking for $20/hr (CAD26.55) I hope for that rate that they learn to read. The number of times I am sent the wrong size - I have come to the conclusion that some of the people filling the orders do not have basic literary skills.
4
That is increasingly true of a lot of younger people in the retail sector, and it points to a general decline in reading and math skills.
7
@Martha
Their mistakes have nothing to do with reading and math skills.
Speed matters more than order accuracy in the way order fillers are evaluated.
Even if they check your box of shoes to ensure that both are the same size, they can't do anything to fix the mismatch.
Amazon warehouses are not organized by product. They're organized by optimizing space on the shelf at any given moment in time.
Your box of mismatched shoes could be next to a blender. The right shoe could be on the opposite end of the warehouse in a different box.
These things happen because manufacturers who sell their shoes to Amazon at a discount often sell problematic stock, i.e. boxes with shoes of two different sizes. Your savings are at the expense of quality control.
10
@S Sm I am appalled at teens who pull out their phone calculator to figure 28 divided by 2.
5
Being a good corporate citizen nets benefits. The statement that Amazon is involved in all types of businesses could be equally applied to an relatively smaller but ubiquitous company, Costco. However, in contrast, Costco has often tried to help out communities it is located in and moreover has a reputation for being an excellent employer. In fact, I was almost shocked by how well Costco was portrayed as supporting the protagonist in the movie "Stronger". I would have thought "excellent product placement" except Costco has such a great rep I could believe the movie people did it without payment.
No one begrudges Costco in the same way. I am only a Costco shopper and not affiliated otherwise but it's interesting to contrast 2 behemoth companies in my hometown of Seattle. I was never much of a Amazon customer and even less so now but our family has been Costco members for over 3 decades.
14
@ms Costco employees have a benefits package, are paid a living wage, have health care and retirement plans - unlike Amazon. The founder of Costco was a coal miners son who planned to build an ethical company for the long haul.
Amazon's business plan is diametrically opposed to Costco.
34
@Amaratha
They don't just run an ethical company for morality reasons.
On a financial basis, their growth has been explosive, and unmatched by even Amazon's retail arm.
They never advertise, either because they realize that the customer service provided by their employees is their best advertisement.
There's an old adage in retail about advertising: it's the price you pay for poor customer service.
LLBean is also expanding, and has success in the retail business precisely because of its legendary customer service and exemplary way employees are treated.
There are plenty of retail success stories out there of companies withstanding the assault of Amazon.
9
I like the convenience. Are we now, or have we been for awhile, merely a distribution network of foreign goods? I miss the days when Americans made stuff and we proud of the stuff they made. Kinda bums me out....the world turns.
4
Amazon is indeed very convenient and very inexpensive. So inexpensive that I would gladly pay, say, 20% more if required so that their lower-paid workers and contractors could have a decent lifestyle.
15
I live in a rural community. I ordered a flashlight headlamp to replace one I lost. Arrived in two days. That is just a small example of the efficiency I have come to expect from Amazon.
Had to replace a clouded headlight lense on my daughter's old Toyota so it would pass inspection. Found a replacement on Amazon and saved several hundred dollars over the dealer price.
Have to return an item? No hassle. No problem.
My wife and I enjoy Amazon programming. No dumb commercials.
Sorry, I like what Amazon is delivering: low prices, efficiency and customer service.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd be happy to see Amazon take over public transportation.
26
I have a few questions: What were the Amazon employees' hourly wages at their job before Amazon?
Is there something blocking them from leaving Amazon for a better job?
I work really hard at cutting my impact on the earth so I don't use a car except for emergencies like a trip to the vet's. I have concluded that using delivery services keep more cars off the road---one vehicle making 50 deliveries on a 30 mile route should keep 29 other vehicles off the road.
BTW I don't use my dishwasher, clothes dryer or garbage disposal either, Don't eat meat, recycle, compost and walk where ever I can so I feel as though I'm doing my part and I appreciate that Amazon helps me with some of this.
I can see where the sheer size of Amazon is daunting, but I also wonder why nobody is organizing with millions against the oil and natural gas big guys, or the corporate agribusiness and the giant money guys---they're the one that truly scare me.
All change is scary and leads to losers along with the winners. I don't know George Soros, but he made his money from investing other people's funds; which does not seem to me to have made much of a contribution to the world. Donating now is nice, but so does Bezos.
11
The real problem with Amazon is that J Bezos wants to control everything and he’s he’s being allowed to do all he can to accomplish that. Books, consumer goods, technology, tv, newspaper, health insurances a don and on.
America, indeed the world, doesn’t need any kind of global monopoly that we would all bow to.
21
@Nshsandy
Nshsandy, when you write “control” and “monopoly,” you do know that those words have actual meanings, right?
Why drive to a mall when you can order online and have the item(s) the next day? Amazon provides excellent service. I like their arrangement with Whole Foods as well and generally now purchase groceries online.
Online shopping has freed up my Saturdays - a huge benefit...
13
When I came to NY, the prices here were astronomical compared to the state I came from (except for food). I would "import" materials from out of state at 1/2 the cost. Then came Home Depot for hardware building materials. Amazing, the prices dropped and many small businesses disappeared, because they could not compete given the bloat profits required by intermediary distributors. Tooling was still astronomical; trades could get tools and specialist materials at reasonable prices but heaven forbid anyone else get a discount. Then came eBay and Amazon, and tooling and specialist materials became affordable. How to use the tools, and how to fix things? Thanks to YouTube and 'free' contributors, you can do it yourself most of the time; you at least have a choice about paying someone or not.
Amazon isn't the main target in this target rich environment. Big pharma is picking everyone's pockets. A president who thinks influence peddling is perfectly acceptable. Equity companies still avariciously exploiting companies. And, am I the only one who looks askance at Soros bankrolling anti-Amazon entities with some of his petty cash while seemingly investing in the competition?
12
@MH
"And, am I the only one who looks askance at Soros bankrolling anti-Amazon entities with some of his petty cash while seemingly investing in the competition?"
No, you are not the only one (I hope).
He is a ruthless manipulator, then gets the media to write about his "good deeds".
A while back he had a public fight with Facebook. Guess what? His fund was making big trades in Facebook.
4
As long as Amazon sells things I cannot get elsewhere, I'll happily shop there. And even if I stop shopping there, I will still thank Amazon everyday because that's where my company has its cloud apps.
(Bet you use one or two)
18
This piece suggests the hidden subsidies given to Amazon by all of us who pay any tax whatsoever. That Amazon declined to comment for this article is most understandable. After all, outrageously successful capitalism works on the principle of minimizing competition (or exterminating it) and maximizing non-regulation. For me, there are serious issues here which need substantial investigation (and not by the political agents who have conflicting interests) by truly independent and widely empowered investigators.
13
In the 1970s the United States government broke up Bell telephone into many smaller regional phone companies. Legislation was enacted by Congress to forcefully reduce the size of the telephone conglomerate.
I would like to see Congress Break up the monopolies in the tech Industries Where we see trillion dollar companies paying their employees low minimum wages and avoid paying corporate
taxes.

17
@Dormy Miller It actually occurred in 1982 and was due to a consent agreement between the Department of Justice and A. T. & T. The regional Bell companies eventually merged again.
6
One of Ma Bell's "baby bells," created as part of the Reagan-era divestiture, was NJ Bell. It became Verizon.
5
I’m glad to see this article. It gives a little light and hope in this time of darkness. Plenty could be said about Jeff Bezos, and the criticism may be justfied, but the thing about Amazon is that consumers drive this dystopian machine and they keep making it bigger and bigger with rampant consumerism. I made this point in a NYT’s article about the company yesterday and of course got deluged with responses likening my point fo view to the age of buggy whips and dinasaurs, saying the same could be said about the Sears catalog. I was around when the Sears catalog was still around, and sorry, but many people who buy most everything online are far too young to know anything about the completely different set of social and economic factors that existed at that time. All I can say to young people is that us older dinosaurs are on the way out, and this is going to be their world, so they need to ask themselves what kind of society do they want to help create for themselves and their children, if they have them. They also need to make the connection between their actions and the decline of a living and functioning planet. Sustainable practices and supporting local businesses is not just an out of date idea and I'm glad people are catching on to this.
39
"Last fall, the retailer was forced to begin paying a $15 hourly minimum wage nationwide." The word "forced" is pretty loaded -- needs a link or context.
11
@David Garza: To me, "forced" would imply that the federal government passed a law setting the minimum wage at $15 per hour. Since we know that didn't happen, I think "pressured" is probably a more accurate word.
5
No one ever mentions that UPS drivers are Teamsters. Amazon has created thousands of good union jobs.
I’m not saying Amazon is perfect. It’s warehouse workers should unionize. But so should fast food workers. I live in a rural area, far away from a lot of stores. I patronize local businesses, but sometimes Amazon is the best choice.
9
@GiGi
That is why Amazon is not using UPS anymore. They are using contract Amazon drivers.
They have moved away from UPS except in rare cases and are having Amazon drivers drop off packages in lockers for people to pick up.
17
@Gus Amazon isn't using UPS because building out their own delivery network is faster and cheaper in light of their one-day delvery promise. They are a cloud storage company first, a logistics enterprise second. If UPS' union status was an issue they would have avoided them in the first place.
6
I love Amazon. Amazon saves me amazing amounts in time and money. Online shopping is more efficient than getting into the car and driving to a mega mall or specialty store in the next county.
You, readers, are not really mad at Amazon. You are mad because for the last 200 years America has had an unaddressed 1% problem. Don't get distracted, focus, and fix it by going to the polls.
14
@Yahoo
They don't pay their workers or give them benefits AND they don't pay federal taxes.
By buying from Amazon, you are contributing to a tax-dodging company that has ZERO respect for workers. And ZERO respect for the rest of us that pay taxes.
40
@Yahoo
Wrong. What you're "saving" you are paying through public assistance for their workers (who can't make a living wage), the wear and tear on our roads, pollution from their vehicles. Amazon is part of the 1%. Corporate welfare.
23
“This is a company functioning at a scale that was previously left to government”
Does that statement not bother the many Amazon defenders (like it needs defending) in the comments section? No worries about an extremely secretive company whose many ventures known and unknown are overseen by the richest individual in the world?
No problems here????
No wonder Trump is president.
25
This is appalling! The past was never better and these groups represent backward ignorance even if trying to do good.
12
@Erika Odio
Shoot! Why have I wasted my time trying to get my head around complex issues, competing claims, sophisticated arguments and difficult trade-offs? If only I had realized it was all so simple!!
2
From the NY Times -- "Amazon is projected to have $238 billion in sales this year with 750,000 employees." That's almost $320,000 per employee. That's a pretty good return on employee.
By comparison, Walmart had about $500 billion in worldwide sales in 2018 with 2.2 million employees, a return of about $2.275 million per employee.
Amazon has a way to go, but I am convinced they will get there. Do employees become more valuable in this context or less?
2
Twice the sales with three times the employees doesn’t equal 10 times the revenue per employee, does it? According to the numbers in your post amazon appears more efficient per employee. Aside from the math though, is that the right metric? Both companies operate on pretty thin margins!
2
@Perfect Commenter Yes, the math is wrong, and you also must adjust for how many employees in each firm are full-time and part-time, and how many contractors are used. You can juice the revenue per employee by using outside staff.
3
Amazon is successful now for the same reasons Wal-mart and Sears were in the past - people find that their prices, product selection and other services make their lives easier. That said, it is not a monopoly. First, Independent third-party sellers – primarily small and medium-sized businesses – made up 58% of all physical gross merchandise sold by Amazon’s stores in 2018. Secondly, their total sales are only 5% of US total retail sales. Third, less than a third of the US population have Prime accounts, held by most multiple time Amazon customers.
So, over half it's sales volume isn't directly Amazon's, 250 million US residents don't shop there and 95% of the items sold in the US at retail don't come from them. So tell me again how Amazon is a monopoly?
22
@Eric T When independent sellers become profitable enough, Amazon starts competing with them and ultimately pushes them out and effectively takes over their businesses. The independent sellers are really just unpaid business model experimenters.
5
I am surprised at the sympathy and support from the left for action to stop Amazon's growth and even reverse it.
Usually the left prefers giant businesses which have monopoly power in their markets. The reason the left prefers it is that unionization of the workers (a one time effort that is nearly impossible ever to undo) leaves the unions in dominant position since strikes become much more effective as they not only paralyze the company but they also severely impact the entire economy. In addition, giant, near monopoly companies also are more prone to be subjected to regulation by the government. And since the federal government has been very pro-union since the end of WWII, those regulations usually are designed to benefit or at least prevent any harm to the unions as well as whatever is the real issue they are supposed to address.
Furthermore, the left is fundamentally opposed to free markets and competition. Giant, near monopolies are the left's second best alternative (their best alternative is always government operation of the business).
9
@Errol exactly
1
Yeah, Amazon really needs that union efficiency model! Lol This is all just an attempted power/money grab against a revolutionary company that is playing by the rules and pleasing millions of customers. Non-government unions are so 20th century and thankfully going the way of the Post Office.
15
@WFR
NYT reported a few weeks ago that Amazon is paying ZERO in federal income taxes. How is that playing by the rules?
How is not providing benefits and a decent wage to employees playing by the rules? Meanwhile, Bezos is a billionaire.
Let's deal with facts here....
16
@Gus If Amazon payed zero federal taxes and nobody went to prison because of it, they are playing by the rules.
5
@David. Amazon, Bezos and many other wealthy individuals and companies are BUYING the rules to benefit them.
11
Can we afford the carbon footprint of all that delivery?
Rarely does anyone need anything as quickly as Amazon insists on delivering it.
38
@KS I am guessing (truly) that their carbon footprint is smaller than what's created by all of us jumping in the car to go shop at our local retailers.
6
@KS Would the carbon footprint differ if the buyer waited a week versus getting an item in one or two days? It will have to be delivered nonetheless.
3
One of the reasons Amazon is so successful is due to the time squeeze in our daily lives. I work a 10 sometimes 12 hour day 5 days a week. Lunch hours are for working and occasionally reading NYT. I'm sure I'm not alone. Folks like me don't have the time to hit a bunch of brick and mortar stores to hopefully find what we need. Amazon and it's like are a piece of a much larger economic issue.
47
Why are you working so much?
5
Government pays for many of the needs of Amazon and other companies like Foxconn. We rebuilt I94 between Illinois and Milwaukee, added lanes, etc., less then 10 years ago only to rebuild it again to add more lanes, extend exit ramps, etc., at tax payer expense to accommodate the increased traffic. We have purchased land for Foxconn. The expected time line to recover costs for the Foxconn project is 25 years, if Foxconn meets all it's goals. It has not to date. We have a Amazon warehouse also. How much tax payer money was paid out as an incentive and how many "Temp" agencies will provide workers without a decent wage and no health insurance. Who picks up the tab, we do. Foxconn might end up costing 4 billion.
15
The article, quoting the Economic Roundtable says every day there are 21,500 diesel truckloads of goods delivered to 21 Amazon warehouses in the four county region. This seems unlikely. That’s 1,000 truckloads per day, per warehouse. (An earlier NYTimes article says an Amazon warehouse gets around 50 truckloads a day). To service 1,000 truckloads of goods every day a warehouse would have to have hundreds of loading docks. As large as they are (some are more than 1,000,000 sq ft) that would still make it “all dock” and “little storage.”
7
"The report noted on its title page that it was underwritten by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which represents more than 800,000 members of 300 unions. The Economic Roundtable said that did not affect the results."
Lol. Full stop.
Could have saves a few minutes of my time if that paragraph had be moved closer to the top.
13
Amazon is a cruel and heartless employer. The company needs to humanize the working conditions for all its warehouse employees Although I'm a Prime customer, I think Bezos should be sentenced to a year of hard labor at one of his warehouses. Let's see how long he would last. His company is just as bad as slavery was in the old South.
12
@Nancy Robertson
Please explain how Amazon forces workers to forgo better opportunities.
5
@Charlierf
Just because they're the second largest employer in the US doesn't mean they're entitled to exploit the people who work for them.
2
@Nancy Robertson
You didn't answer Charlie's question. Can you?
Here’s another important article illustrating why Amazon needs to be reined in. This is only the latest report on Amazon’s habit of grinding up it’s warehouse workers.
"Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Maiming Employees"
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/11/amazon-warehouse-reports-show-worker-injuries/602530/
13
I would LOVE to donate but there is no obvious place to do so on their website.
2
Full time workers should not qualify for public assistance. Especially if they work for a 900 billion dollar company. To the extent that they do, taxpayers are subsidizing the companies. Agencies disbursing public assistance should record which beneficiaries are full time employees of businesses like Amazon and WalMart and the government should sue the companies for the cost of the assistance and the added costs of administering the programs that identify these workers. Welfare fraud is welfare fraud whether committed by an individual or a company.
54
@Cold Eye Why don’t they just tax the companies more and redistribute what that brings in as social benefits for everyone?
1
The ONLY reason Amazon has been able to persist in developing their logistical, environmental disaster is due to the profit from the AWS (Amazon Web Services) division of the company. My husband just bought a couple of small light bulbs, from Amazon, delivered overnight. Obviously, wrapping an inexpensive item, in packaging that is more expensive than the item and delivering it overnight is not sustainable. It gets even more cockeyed when you consider cradle to grave costs. The boundary really includes all the manufacturing costs for packaging (think fossil fuel consumption, forest destruction), aviation operations, (mfg costs, operations, for fleet ownership), distribution center costs, esp. heating and cooling, fleet procurement, operations costs, road costs, packaging costs for inbound and outbound material, fuel, and finally disposal costs. This is the season when our streets are bustling with delivery vans, heavy trucks, 14 hours a day roaring up and down neighborhoods delivering that great convenience at your doorstep. How do they do that? Without AWS, this nonsense would have been over years ago. Break this company up!
33
@RFM - You're 100% correct. But my question is:
If AWS is supporting the whole company, why break it up? I'll sink under its own weight. (See my comment about the stock prices of AMZN vs. WMT this year.) Remember other "successful" retailers: Kresge's, Woolworth's, Montgomery Ward's ?
5
Amazon has anticipated the growing backlash and is inching into other countries like India.
In India, it has a major share in the delivery economy and customers are happy to order through it as the delivery is reliable, unlike some of the previous delivery operators.
The local retailers have protested when Amazon listed products for sale, not just delivery, and current Indian govt has paid attention to the complaints as the small retailers are a key base for the ruling BJP.
Indians have a mania for "fresh" so I doubt that Amazon will be successful in delivering groceries in India but it will make a big push in the non-perishables market.
3
I dislike the way Amazon forever tries to force me to buy more, more, more. At least a couple of times a week I'm prompted to buy Prime. The system conveniently offers to charge my credit card for it. No, I don't want Prime. If I wanted it, I would have bought it already. Now my Kindle defaults to Audible books. If I wanted Audible I would look specifically for Audible books. And there is no way to turn off One-Click on electronic purchases, which has led me to accidently buy books I didn't want just by swiping the wrong way. Amazon is a great site but the pushiness is exasperating.
2
@Kristin Then simply stop iusing their platform.
Amazon doesn't "force" you to buy anything. You either are easily gullible or make the decision to do so due to repeated prompting. If you're vulnerable to that , just leave it.
If you'd bother to go into your site settings it's quite easy to disable 1-Click settings--literally one click near the top of the page. I'm sure the Kindle issue is similarly as easily solved.
1
amazon thrives because it provides unparalleled convenience to customers. It is successful and therefore attacked.
18
Neither of your conclusions is sound.
First, that "unparalleled convenience" you cite costs taxpayers a walloping fat fee and costs the environment--and hence our children's future--untold and increasingly irreparable damage.
Second, honest success is rarely attacked unless it's leveraged on other people's resources. Amazon is attacked because it exploits every ounce of vulnerability in both our society and our economy while taking advantage of our greed and laziness.
We need to reintroduce the simple idea of getting off our butts and going to the store for our lightbulbs, housewares, groceries, electronics, and, yes, even our books.
14
@Larry klein The "convenience" for some has become a massive detriment to the masses.
9
@magpie I would disagree with that assumption that all Amazon customers are lazy.
Consider those who can't just "get off their butts" as easily as others. For the disabled or the elderly the convenience of online shopping is an enormous net positive.
7
Fulminating commenters, please explain how Amazon forces buyers to buy, or forces workers to forgo more lucrative opportunities.
Adults should realize that buyers pay as little as they can for products, and employers pay as little as they can to entice workers. Beyond that, it’s charity, not business.
28
Love all the commenters here who seemed to be focused on the individual convenience Amazon brings them personally and want to blame vulnerable workers for their own plight. Importance of anti-trust legislation? Workers rights? A CEO with a big enough fortune to crash economies or fund wars? Who cares!
43
Let's know that Amazon is not the only platform for online shopping!
8
With so many bad operators in the market place let us kill the one that delivers what it promises.
17
Amazon is the new Wal-Mart. It is running rough-shod over retailers, suppliers and employees the same way Wal-Mart did and it will leave abandoned, shuttered big footprints like Wal-Mart has whenever it decides to go for better/bigger bucks elsewhere. Amazon has already wrecked Whole Foods. It doesn't deserve one whit of tax break. Adding minimum wage jobs is not a way to improve a local economy. They should be taxed at a higher rate for all the infrastructure they wear out and the water and electricity they use up.
32
I have been boycotting Amazon for years, since they started the war with Hachette publishers in their move to gain complete control of the publishing market. Anyone who thinks they are harmless should look into that history. And if you think that you can fight against a monopoly by "just don't buy there if you don't like them", then you really do need a history lesson.
I still shop some at Whole Foods, but I'm phasing that out.
29
Amazon is paying its warehouse workers the mandated wage and better than the otherwise prevailing wage for those with limited skills and education. Why must they pay more? why is their responsibility to provide housing? Get an education, learn a trade: make more money.
20
@TED338 They should pay more because Bezos makes 31K a minute. Read "Nomadland" to see how Amazon treats aging workers.
2
Monopolies will always take certain injurious actions. They will compete unfairly in the marketplace. They will eventually harm their employees and customers, even if they benefited them at first.
But the most important problem of monopolies is that they ultimately work to subvert and control the only institution that can challenge them -- the government. Amazon has poured enormous resources into lobbying over the past several years. It already basically controls the Seattle municipal government.
More than 100 years ago, Theodore Roosevelt made an appointment with the Rockefellers and told them Standard Oil's days of controlling the global energy industry were over. We have no Roosevelt today. We can't expect governments to stand up to Amazon. The work will have to be done in the grassroots, by the people.
31
Further... Amazon follows, or even exceeds all local, state, and federal labor laws and requirements. So activism against Amazon for labor wages and benefits is a complete non-starter. Amazon has a better labor track record then the much worshipped by many consumers --> Walmart.
The only real fault that could be argued here is Amazon disrupts brick and mortar business models. Get over it... it's here to stay.
14
@Chuck Amazon has found how to navigate laws and maintain higher profitability than is warranted in a democratic society where taxpayers fund public expenditure. The laws are outdated. Amazon makes use of public infrastructure, including government subsidies that go directly and indirectly to underpaid employees to bring up its own profits. Amazon has to pay and will be required to pay, its fair share in taxes for the building and maintenance of the public infrastructure it benefits from and its fair share to the to the employees, who keep the company in operation.
10
If I need to buy something online, I go to other sites, ones that specialize in the products they sell. I have small family members out of state, and I've found some really good sites for kids' gifts that personalize, wrap, and ship. I found more products and just-as-good prices (overall) by going direct to manufacturers' sites. I sometimes use Amazon to see what's available, then try to find it somewhere else. I prefer brick-and-mortar whenever I can get it, but I live in a small rural town, where local businesses have been run over by WalMart and its ilk, who in turn are now being run over by Amazon.
20
I think Amazon ought to be required to collect and recycle its packaging. I have changed my behavior and am now able to buy almost everything U need from a local brick and mortar, including ordering books through local stores. I am also planning better so I don't have to rush ship anything. Finally, I am endeavoring to gift experiences (i.e., tickets to theater, movies, restaurants, massages, etc., rather than buying some more stuff. It can be done.
139
I think Amazon ought to be required to collect and recycle its packaging. I have changed my behavior and am now able to buy almost everything U need from a local brick and mortar, including ordering books through local stores. I am also planning better so I don't have to rush ship anything. Finally, I am endeavoring to gift experiences (i.e., tickets to theater, movies, restaurants, massages, etc., rather than buying some more stuff. It can be done.
4
It would appear crazy and extreme exists at both ends of the political divide. I’d prefer they beat each other senseless and broke and leave the free market alone.
The easier answer is if you don’t like Amazon don’t shop there. The righteous indignation is ingenuous.
14
@AusTex What free market?
1
This news is very welcome--it's about time someone took on Amazon. I'm confused, though: is Athena primarily an activist coalition dedicated to fighting the Amazon model and mobilizing communities, or is it also about providing a different consumer model where people can buy from a retailer who isn't going to destroy communities and squander resources?
8
It’s tough to make traditional regulatory arguments against Amazon and WalMart because their market power has resulted by and large in lower consumer prices. Does that benefit offset the punishment they’ve exerted on their supply chain and labor? Does it offset the environmental costs of global logistics and disposable consumer goods of questionable value?
13
I would love to see Amazon unionized, and I hope its customers (like myself) maintain pressure on the company to be a good citizen and to put a human face (and accountability) on its treatment of workers and the environment. That said, this article, like more than a few I've seen in the Times, seems a little too under the influence of the companies' enemies. (Tip for Amazon -- when a reporter calls, talk to him/her.) In the end, Jeff Bezos has accumulated enough power to do a lot of good for a lot of people, both in practice and by example. I'm not holding my breath, but it wouldn't be the first time he was up to the challenge.
14
The left is trying to punish the logistics masterpiece that is Amazon. That low wage work has always been done in the retail industry. Warehouses simply replaced store fronts with the same unskilled labor running them. Asking for $20/hr from Amazon is a joke, unless you ask every mom and pop store, along with wal mart to do the same.
15
@Alex Emerson
Ok let's also ask Amazon to pay $20/hr for each robot they employ too.
Fair now?
7
@EC There will come a tipping point in cost of labor that will make robotizing the warehouses a cost effective decision. No humans, no labor problems. Problem fixed. Lost will be 600,000 low education level human jobs.
17
The left believes that it is the taxpayers responsibility to pay for their retraining as six figure computer coders.
3
Sad, that so many people want to disrupt a business that has changed the lives of so many people for the better.
18
@Rev Bates- From the article: "Amazon workers and Amazon customers exist in two different worlds, the Economic Roundtable said. The report calculates that a little over half of Amazon warehouse workers in Southern California live in substandard housing. And for every $1 in wages, they receive 24 cents in public assistance." So in case clarification is still necessary, YOU and your fellow SoCal residents are subsidizing this shining corporate exemplar.
13
@JS
Last I checked the U.S. is a free country. These people are not forced to work there, hospitals pay grunt employees even less but no ones up in arms about that.
8
@Kaylee- Yes, we should care about hospital workers too (I was once one myself)- advocacy for Amazon workers does not preclude that. Just what is your stake in supporting something less than a less-than living wage? Are those the values cherished in so-called "Middle America"?
8
Well, on the bright side, if you can ger Amazon to do something good, it affects a lot of people. And scattered ownership of all those trucks would not reduce their impact.
That said, I avoid buying from Amazon. It is no longer the miraculous bookstore!
5
There has been a dereliction by anti-trust regulators who have been solely interested in consumer pricing. A century ago, anti-trust was also concerned with monopoly and oligopoly of employers, where few employers could depress wages. This is true of big tech: whose employees are forbidden to move to similar jobs with other firms and who have understandings about snatching employees from each other. Amazon is now a huge employer of low wage employees who are under constant digital surveillance for "productivity."
Maintaining competition among retailers and among employers should be just as important at looking at prices. Lower prices now may mean monopolistic pricing in the future.
19
While community and labor organizing against monolithic corporations is certainly welcome, directly lobbying these businesses to change their behavior/priorities contributes to the on-going shift of oversight and regulatory power away from our public institutions to the private sector. By giving up on government oversight, we further embolden corporations to write their own rules. Just some food for thought.
10
Our States could slap a hefty surcharge on internet orders of merchandise that is inevitably delivered by trucks. The trucks wear and tear up the roads and bridges that the states must pay to maintain.
Amazon and other internet sellers were allowed to get away with not collecting state sales taxes for many years. Billions of sales tax revenue was lost to the states by the loophole provided by online ordering from out of state.
If states want to invigorate their economies they should consider reversing the formula that gave out-of-state sellers a long term and significant price advantage by not requiring sales tax collection out of state vendors.
Sales tax could be collected in full from internet orders and reduced or eliminated from brick and mortar local retailers as long term recompense from the damage to local businesses and the loss of state revenue. Local businesses were subject to this de facto price disadvantage for years.
For an equal period local businesses and state coffers should benefit from flipping the tables when it comes to which sellers are required to collect the lions share of state and local sales taxes going forward.
6
@Billy You do know that state and federal fuel taxes are to cover repair and maintenance on roadways right? Unsure how the answer to every perceived ill be more taxation and hurt on the end consumer.
10
@Nature
Connecticut has no tolls and nobody wants them but the governor. The state raised the fuel tax to cover road maintenance but it wasn't enough.
It is environmentally inefficient to have goods delivered from out of state just to evade sales tax. It isn't and was not fair to local retailers to have to collect tax when Amazon didn't.
8
@Nature I'm just not trusting that some of that funding will come to repair the streets in my little town. The federal fuel taxes are low. They certainly don't cover the environmental costs. Most Americans want something for nothing.
1
Dignity is a powerful emotion which can lead one to give their most efficient performance, or, if absent, can lead one to make some really bad decisions.
Amazon doesn't seem interested in paying their employees adequately, so that they can enjoy the dignity that a worker earns by giving their best performance day in day out. In fact the style of capitalism being practiced in this country, where winner takes all, is inconsistent with the workers better interests as a whole.
Unfortunately, our government seems to have no interest at all in sticking up for the better interests of the people so that they can enjoy basic dignity which will not end well for any of us.
5
@ACD If they are not paying their employees adequately then why are so many people working for them? Please explain your rationale in making such claims rather than assuming the "us' versus "them" approach.
16
@Nature Because some pay is better than no pay? Is that an obscure concept?
10
@Nature
Because they are the only jobs out there at this point.
1
Demanding $20 minimum wage just threw the credibility of the report out the window.
Amazon workers in SoCal need government assistance because the housing is so darn expensive there. It's probably worse for people working at Target or Chipotle and get paid $12/hr. Should Amazon that has been innovating the super-competitive retail business pass up on investment opportunities and hand out its capital to its workers instead ?
I have no problem taxing the likes Apple or hedge fund billionaires who have more money than they can usefully employ and then redistribute it to people who have better use for it, like Amazon warehouse employees in SoCal who gets paid $15/hr. But Amazon is still heavily investing and barely profitable vis-à-vis its revenue. This anti-Amazon sentiment just reminds me of an Ayn Rand novel which, coincidentally, called productive capitals anti-democratic just because they are big.
10
@TK Sung Ayn Rand, the Libertarian who lived out her golden years on Social Security and Medicare.
3
The problem is not Amazon, it's "Big." Amazon is no more evil than Walmart or Target. Don't make the mistake of focusing on one and not the others,
"Athena springs out of several UNEXPECTEDLY [i.m.] successful grass-roots efforts to rein in Amazon’s power." Call me paranoid, but am I the only one who wonders if a sweet little outfit like Walmart would stoop so low as to FUND a group dedicated to attacking Amazon?
16
Last I looked Amazon was not a monopoly, and the consumer has choices. Given the size of Amazon enough consumers have chosen them.
17
@shawn
There are many items that are only available through Amazon, even if sold by multiple vendors.
5
@catlover not familiar with items your talk about but my bet is they are items we can live without if we had 2
2
@catlover Name 10.
This article did not provide any convincing details to rein Amazon. We live in a country that nobody is above the law, and it also means nobody "under" the law. It can not treat Amazon stricter just because it is larger, much larger.
Taxing could be one way to balance huge corporation effect, and using such locate tax to compensate local economy which disadvantage from such huge corporation, e.g housing and rental allowance etc.
Unfortunately, the rich people don't pay enough tax. The tax policy must got something wrong if it allows personal fortune goes up as high as Bezos'. The curve of personal fortunes accumulation should more likely follow something like root function, instead of exponential function.
23
CAPITALISM
noun
An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.
Jeff Bezos, you are hereby accused by the court of public opinion of committing the crime of practicing Capitalism. How do you plead?
Guilty as charged!
6
@Craig Willison Although true, you are missing the lever of regulation which is supposed to ensure Capitalism operates in a fashion not detrimental to society as a whole. That is the group's (Athena) main objective I believe. Currently if a Capitalist needs to increase profits it is rarely competing with it's competition and more snuggling up to government officials. This is just an expansion of the Microsoft Model which found that it was cheaper to hire lobbyists than lawyers to change the laws for which it was found in violation.
13
@Russell Smith
Capitalism was never designed nor does it produce broad prosperity. Historically, what it does best is concentrate wealth. Andrew Carnegie is exhibit A. If you want broad prosperity, you need to vote for Democratic Socialism like they do in Sweden. Every time you vote for a Republican, you're voting for more wealth inequality.
5
@Craig Willison “Broad prosperity” is everywhere you look. 17 million new cars sold every year, planes, cruise ships, resorts and theme parks full, cities complaining about too many tourists, national parks overrun, marinas on every coast and lake overcrowded, jet skis and four-wheelers going down the highways behind 50 thousand dollar pickups pulling them, every home with multiple TVs and cell phones and cars for the 16 year olds - the middle class is doing just fine, thank you. And the recent ace of the population in poverty continues to decline, obscured by the presence of the mentally ill and addicted cruelly left on the streets under the guise that they have a right to refuse treatment and “chose their own lifestyle”.
2
But, but, but capitalism, “the rule of law”, free markets and no regulation is what makes America Great!
4
@Donald Matson
Okay Donald Matson, you’re being sarcastic because in your clique you despise those who actually believe this. I’m a believer who suggests that America’s prosperity and freedom are not an accident.
Americans love success so long as you are not too successful. At some tipping point the less successful start to push back.
14
This “coalition” and related groups are the business-intimidation version of a class action suit: you know someone in the leadership is going to make a buck, one way or another, at some point. Amazon is an American success story and it helps make some shoppers smarter, when they find the same products are actually cheaper in a real neighborhood store. The unpaid costs to taxpayers when Amazon trucks use our roads is nothing compared to UPS or FEdEx (which paid zero in federal taxes last year) but I don’t hear the Coalition screaming about them. And Walmart, which for decades hollowed out small town Main Streets across the entire country, with profits funding right wing conservative/religious groups and the NRA, gets off the hook as well. Amazon has a lot of improving to do, from policing its third party sellers to eliminating counterfeits to becoming a better corporate citizen and employer, but they could grow tenfold and never catch up with Walmart, FedEx and UPS trucks (to name only a few) for burning asphalt off our highways.
And the real shame would be if the grassroots energy being harnessed for this dubious effort comes at the expense of wrestling control of our nation from the Trump-Koch-Evangelical axis of evil that’s growing like cancer on steroids. Amazon can wait; let’s go after the criminals in the GOP, from DC to Georgia, first.
39
The comment on uncompensated public costs is ridiculous. Amazon pays property and income taxes; their delivery vehicles use fuel and must be registered and thus pay taxes.
Environmentally, is it better to have one delivery truck utilizing optimized route planning handling hundreds of deliveries each day or having those hundreds of people getting in vehicles to drive somewhere park, and drive home with their item?
Yes, large corporations should be watched for antitrust and anticompetitive behavior. However, let's be honest; most retail stores fall to Amazon because they didn't offer hours, customer service, or pricing that would make someone want to visit. That retail store that is open 10 - 5 that charges 50% more and doesn't offer any real customer service, returns, etc. is no benefit.
If we force Amazon to create housing for employees, aren't we in effect creating work camps? In the United States, we tie way too much to employers. Our healthcare insurance is tied to an employer, and now you want housing as well? What happens if you want to start your own store...or change employers? This would essentially trap people into staying with the same employer.
74
@Ken S writes: "The comment on uncompensated public costs is ridiculous. Amazon pays property and income taxes ... "
Ummm, a USA Today Headline: Amazon pays no 2018 federal income tax, report says
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/02/15/amazon-pays-no-2018-federal-income-tax-report-says/2886639002/
Other legitimate news outlets reported the same.
It's best to know your facts before you comment!
27
@MJ
There are in fact many corporations that earn billions each year and pay no taxes.
Let me ask you a question... if you fill out your income taxes, and take your deductions and the tax tables say you owe no taxes... will you just send a check to the government anyway? Be honest... you would not.. and you would absolutely take every deduction you can to reduce or avoid taxes entirely.
Your bone to pick here lies in the most recent corporate gifting of the new tax law under Trump.
24
@Ken S Nonetheless people need places to live and health care to be good employees.
4
Regardless of the convenience of Amazon, it pays no income taxes on profits and taxpayers have to subsidize their employees with public support. A full time employee should make enough to live without food stamps etc, and I'm talking walmart as well as amazon.
186
Add to that independent contractors for FedEx, employees of McDonalds and Burger King.
18
@muddyw
Exactly.
Costco provides health insurance and starts employees at $15 per hour. They still churn a big profit, so it can be done. A company can make money, pay taxes and value their employees.
Bezos/Amazon is greedy tax-dodger with no respect or regard for American workers.
I hope his employees unionize.
29
Our entire tax system is in need of overhauling. Any company whose workers are forced to rely on public assistance must be surcharged or penalized so that such costs are passed along to them. Higher taxes so these companies fairly contribute to the infrastructure costs which they impact disproportionately are also a must. And finally, government subsidies for these mammoth welfare queens must also be permanently jettisoned.
72
Lets make minimum wa ge 100 per hour with health benefits and 6 weeks paid vacation.
I love Amazon. It saves me from spending hours on the road to shop for something i need.
If you are against Amazon i suggest you also boycott self service supermarkets.
16
But why is Amazon so successful? That's the heart of the matter. Buying items that are in stock and deliverable is preferable for a lot of people rather than going to many stores with rude employees who act as though they are doing you a favor by taking your money. Similarly returning an item to Walmart or Macy's or just about anywhere else can be torturous. This is what Bezos knows. And it is what he has capitalized on. Until the big box, small boutiques and everything in between address these issues many, many people are going to continue to buy and return on Amazon. In the end, for many, it's just easier. And that's what consumers want.
74
@Orangecat
Agreed.
Amazon is NOT the boogey man here. The boogey man is the American consumers insatiable need for more for less. Amazon simply looks at the demand, innovates to address it, and progresses forward.
People really should be happy that Amazon has found a successful business model to not only compete with, but actually beat, Walmart. Walmart is getting their clock cleaned by Amazon, and becasue of that I will continue to do more shopping with Amazon.
6
@Chuck That can be taken too far, though. Most of us are willing to pay a trifle more for a more sustainable Amazon, where its workers aren't on the dole.
13
I disagree that Amazon is easier, and for that reason I rarely use it anymore. It used to be simple to find what I needed on Amazon; search some item, and it pops right up. But now when I enter some item, I am presented with a dizzying array of options that are (a) *not* what I am actually looking for, (b) often not the best price--you have to scroll thru multiple pages looking at non-comparable options, which is frustrating (c) sometimes not in stock, even back-ordered for months, and (d) sometimes counterfeit. Now it takes too much time and patience to find what I want. For me, it's much easier and more pleasant to just go to a store. Plus I avoid all that horrible packaging.
13
The report details unreimbursed public expenses but fails to detail what the costs would be to taxpayers if we capped the size of retail enterprises, prevented them from owning trucks, or passed 20 dollar minimum wage.
Trucks and planes produce the same pollution no matter who owns them. The argument that Amazon should be targeted is absurd. The public policy issues detailed in it are worth knowing about. Without some alternative economic analysis, that report just becomes propaganda fodder. Trying to extract a rent from Amazon will just backfire into higher prices for all of us.
9
Amazon’s $238 Billion in sales pales to Walmart’s $514 Billion projected 2019 revenue.
Walmart’s Goliath 2.2 million sting employee base dwarfs Amazon’s 750,000.
And a quick search in the net shows the average wage of Walmart employees at $14.26/hr.
The 750,000 strong number quoted appears to be worldwide,
it would be interesting to contrast Walmart’s worldwide average wage with Amazon’s (or Kroger’s , Yum brand or McDonalds. All of the 400 thousand plus employee size.
For years Walmart marched through American cities opening super centers and virtually shuttering mom and pop Main Street.
Amazon has challenged them and now some retail dollars are flowing North and West towards Seattle instead of South to the Majority shareholders in Bentonville.
No tears here.
85
I purchase products from Amazon on a regular basis. It saddens me to read here that the employees have to subsidize their wages with assistance. Truly if your employees cannot make enough of a wage to have a decent home, you have a failed business. Amazon is not a religion so their tax free incentives should dry up. The weirdest thing to me about Amazon is the one item they do not sell is an Amazon.
11
@daniel r potter
Wow really? Then you should probably stop eating at ALL fast food places, convenience stores, other big box stores like Lowe’s, little boutique shops.... Seriously! Why are people only singling out Amazon and not Taco Bell???
1
Money talks. As long as so many millions would rather buy a bar of soap today, a scrubbing brush tomorrow, and have them delivered, rather than going to their local market or even big box store in person, then Amazon will rule.
34
Amazon, in it's size, arrogance and opacity, is becoming a law unto itself. It calls to mind the universe of such authors as William Gibson in "Neuromancer" where a few large corporations rule the world while governments became mostly ceremonial.
53
@Michael Babcock I wish some educated economic theorists could put the Amazon phenomenon in perspective. That’s not me but…Marx talks about late stage capitalism that overpowers democracies. Nietzsche tells us he’s against the winners, whoever they may be, for the ways in which they limit competition; competition, the agora, being the source of social participation and innovation. Winners deny other winners which means we all lose. At some point, we have to face down the winners if we want to insure democracy.
5
Cheap fuel subsidies Amazon's way on the streets of our little town. Who ends up having to pay when the streets crumble?
80
@RT
The vehicles that deliver packages.... they pay road taxes through their licensing and other commercial operator fees, which in turn pay for road upkeep. Same for fuel used.... they pay taxes on that fuel and those taxes are specifically earmarked in most states for road infractructure.
Those "cheap fuel subsidies" you are barking about... those are actually going directly to the oil companies, not shipping carriers.
8
As is often the case, we are being offered solutions to "the Amazon problem" just as it is beginning to dissipate. Don't worry about Bezos & Co. getting Too Big to Govern. The problem is being solved by the private sector, specifically a little company named "Walmart." (In case you've missed it, Amazon's stock is DOWN in the last few months, even as the overall market is making new highs. And WMT is also making new highs. ) So maybe Mr. Streitfeld is focusing on the wrong outfit to worry about.
9
Calling Walmart a solution to Bezos is like calling the greenhouse effect a solution to climate negligence.
It won't bode well for us, and it's REALLY not what we should root for, but it'll indeed end the problem!
43
@SR - Exactly my point. My prediction: a year from now, everyone who liked this article will be saying "Imagine. Everyone was worrying about Amazon. Amazon? Can you believe it? And nobody was talking about Walmart!"
2
@Connecticut Yankee
Amazon and Walmart are two of the companies I try to avoid patronizing, unless there are no other options. Better to support smaller businesses.
15