7 votes

What exactly is Amazon? This is the question that has consumed me for the last ten years.

4 comments

  1. [3]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    I haven't read the whole thing yet, but right off the bat one thing I noticed about his commentary on Walmart: Uhmmm......

    I haven't read the whole thing yet, but right off the bat one thing I noticed about his commentary on Walmart:

    It is the most successful social welfare system ever implemented, saving billions and billions of dollars for everyday Americans without costing taxpayers a dime

    Uhmmm...

    https://edlabor.house.gov/media/press-releases/low-wages-at-a-single-wal-mart-store-cost-taxpayers-about-1-million-every-year-says-new-committee-staff-report


    edit: Finished reading.

    Overall, pretty decent article with good analysis and a fair amount of information about Amazon and Walmart that I didn't know about/consider before... but unfortunately that first part definitely sticks out like a sore thumb. :/

    10 votes
    1. MimicSquid
      Link Parent
      I do like the analysis of the pressures on Amazon, but the Walmart cheerleading is really off-putting.

      I do like the analysis of the pressures on Amazon, but the Walmart cheerleading is really off-putting.

      6 votes
    2. alyaza
      Link Parent
      it's a nice article but yeah christ, that is an awful take if there ever was one that sticks out like a sore thumb in it because of that. how anybody could consider a corporation which in most...

      it's a nice article but yeah christ, that is an awful take if there ever was one that sticks out like a sore thumb in it because of that. how anybody could consider a corporation which in most places can let you go for any reason it wants, drives local stores out of business en masse, refuses to let its workers unionize in really any way (going so far as to scorched earth any store where things of that nature take place), pays and treats its employees like absolute shit, and relies on pretty extensive exploitation, cheap labor in other countries, and decidedly unethical business practices to sell good at the prices it does among many other things the "most successful social welfare system ever implemented" is beyond me outside of genuine delusion.

      5 votes
  2. [2]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      In the guild-focused trading systems present in various ancient Greek and Italian city-states there are some examples of this. And more recently, the great trading companies (e.g. East India...

      Have any states throughout history turned over administration of their public marketplaces to private interests?

      In the guild-focused trading systems present in various ancient Greek and Italian city-states there are some examples of this. And more recently, the great trading companies (e.g. East India Company) in the age of colonialism had complete control over the economies of their respective charter regions. So while it's generally not been particularly healthy to the regions where those private monopolies had control, it's not entirely unprecedented either.

      3 votes