this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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First: Good. Everyone deserves good and safe working conditions (and reasonable pay).
I have the same mixed feelings about Amazon as I do about Walmart. They underpay and overwork their employees, and treat them as replaceable cogs. They often gouge the companies that supply their stock. Their customer service ranges from "OK" to "forget it."
But as someone living with a low income, I often don't have a choice. Amazon's "subscribe and save" program can save me significant money on bulk products, and sometimes Walmart's prices are the best when I don't have much money for the rest of what I need.
If you have the choice, I encourage you to choose to avoid these companies. But for those of us struggling to make ends meet, we're stuck having to give business to companies that not only help create people like me, but depend on our need for them. Please remember that when there are calls that everyone has to stop using them.
This is why boycotts aren't a replacement for legislation. Blaming consumers for making the best of a shitty system is simply shifting blame onto the victims, when the bad systems which force it are what's to blame.
Labor didn't get rid of company scrip by boycotting the stores, they fought against unfair labor and compensation and got it outlawed.
The fact that our system is set up so that the only way people who work full-time can afford to live is spending their money at the same collection of exploitative companies which employ them is only one step removed from it - instead of trapping people physically, they've rigged the system to trap them economically.