The fact that people can’t stop using this shitty ass marketplace is proof we are doomed. Its NOT THAT FUCKING HARD to buy ANYWHERE ELSE . i have not used Walmart or amazon in over a decade. Never really used it before either because I knew their plan. Destroy all other businesses so there is nowhere to go, take over the entire market, then sell shit product for more while being the only employer left. Tale as old as time.
The stupidity of humans makes us deserve this honestly. Now pair this with people who won’t get off their ass to vote. To fill in a bubble on paper. 100% doomed, dont even try to fix it.
While I completely agree with you and I try not to use either company, lot of people who live in rural America do not have a choice. My parent well used to be parents before my dad died, does not drive and doesn’t always have someone to get deliveries for her elsewhere. Even so The only place to shop in the area she lives is Walmart. There is no other place except for grocery stores. So where do you suggest those people shop other than Amazon and Walmart? Personally I live in a place where I can go to Costco and that’s where I get most of my items but for things that are unable to be bought at Costco (for example a rare size screw but I need for a mechanical part) can sometimes only be bought at Amazon.
Thats great, but perfection is the enemy of good enough. I dont think one has to eliminate it entirely, there are some niche things that are only offeres through these marketplaces. But if there is an alternative place to acquire it (starting in your community), always favor it!
All it takes is a reduction of usage by everyone to send a message. Expecting people to go cold turkey is a bridge too far right now. Kudos though for being able to do that
In most places in rural America Walmart is the only place to shop at other than a grocery store. And sometimes they don’t even have a separate grocery store. People in large metropolitan areas seem to forget there’s a whole lot of America that’s rural and nothing else is available there.
I haven’t been able to convince a single person of this. They’ll just keep their prime and Netflix sub’s while getting fed even more ads and paying for them. They think “this is the world” and dont even know how to change.
Coworkers were talking about their $200 or more cable+subscription bills the other day. I felt pretty good that day. People waste a lot of money.
Yep The only way I have found a combat is to share subscriptions with people. Currently I am sharing my Amazon account with my mom (and my dad before he passed away) My spouse, my aunt, My best friend, her husband, and her sister. We all use the same login and we all trust each other enough not to use each other’s credit cards. So you have to be able to have that trust in someone but at least that means Amazon is not getting six separate prime membership payments. But unfortunately I do end up having to use them for my mom who lives in a rural area
I don’t have any other subscriptions. Literally prime the only one I have. I don’t pay for Disney or Hulu because it is included in my Xfinity but we don’t pay for anything else
The stupidity of humans makes us deserve this honestly. Now pair this with people who won’t get off their ass to vote.
They’ve been cutting education in US for past half a century. They’ve been moving income from working class to billionaire class. They’ve propagandized the blame so well that even you blame your peers or poor people instead of the rulingnclass who have planned for this longer than you’ve been alive.
I’m not blaming poor people. If anything they are smarter about what’s happening vs the upper middle class .
I was more complaining about the stupidity of upper white rich class folks listening to fox news and Joe rogan, with zero critical thought, who got us into this shit even worse.
But yes, its 100% the billionaires fault. I see no way to undo their damage unfortunately. As you said, the lack of education and brainwashing has people firmly in their wrong beliefs and they won’t change easily, if ever.
You CAN educate and improve the middle and lower classes, but you CANNOT and will not dismantle the game that was planned and set up for centuries. Rules have been there written in black and white with a highlighter, but no one wants to read them.
The fact that people can’t stop using this shitty ass marketplace is proof we are doomed.
“Well, I don’t shop at Amazon for ethical reasons.”
“Oh, you don’t buy any common commercial goods?”
“No no no. I just buy them ethically.”
“Where do you get your ethically sourced consumer goods?”
“Target and Walmart”
🫠
The stupidity of humans makes us deserve this honestly.
Bitch, I just need a mop to mop my floor so its not sticky. Where do I get a new mop? Point me to the place to buy a fucking mop that doesn’t involve some asshole on the internet heckling me over it.
Don’t you know you’re supposed to make your own rope from cotton that you’ve grown, and make your own mop with wood that you harvested from your backyard?
Yeah, when I take an inventory of the businesses I frequent and follow this train of thought, it ultimately boils down into the line “No ethical consumption under capitalism” I’ve read before.
If it’s a company we’ve heard of, it inevitably has an entire collection of rich psychopaths running and owning it. Local small businesses can be better, or they can be run by hateful bigots and/or small-time psychopaths that charge twice as much.
I just try to find the reasonable balance between trying to reduce harm and not support the worst of the worst, while also participating in society.
Point me to the place to buy a fucking mop that doesn’t involve some asshole on the internet heckling me over it.
Aliexpress.
I have only used Amazon once in the last 2 years (it was a very specific tool that was sold literally nowhere else, even eBay, and was only like $20), Walmart a handful of times, and Target only for cat sand.
If you can’t eliminate the harm you contribute to (which, fair, none of us can in America), you are responsible for minimizing it. Triage, sort of. Gotta choose between 3 shit companies? Evaluate which one is the least-shit and go that route.
And that varies for everyone. The people who have a Walmart as their only source of fresh groceries within a 30 mile radius are going to need to shop at Walmart more often than I do, and that’s fine.
Not to feed the American billionaires who are currently actively ruining my life and the life of all those who I love. Chinese billionaires are certainly no friend of the working class, but again, “lesser evil” is the game when it comes to consumption (unless you can buy used). The CCP literally disappeared Jack Ma for a few months last time he stepped out of line lol (and the CCP is also no friend of mine, to be clear, but is also absolutely less evil than my country)
Correct, China is not currently engaged in a war of expansionism for the benefit of a genocidal apartheid occupation of land rightfully owned by the Palestinian people.
They’re not perfect, but they’re the “lesser evil”. Don’t you liberals love that game?
If nothing else, giving $17 to a corporation is quantifiably half as bad as giving $34. (EDIT: Not surprised at downvotes, I’ve learned Blue MAGA also hates basic math - such as “Holocaust Harris would’ve lost even if she secured every single third-party vote except those for RFK Jr”)
They’re not perfect, but they’re the “lesser evil”.
The only people I hear who keep saying “China is a lesser evil” are the same ones insisting we were right to assassinate all those Iranian politicians.
If you can’t buy a broom without using amazon, youre gonna have a hard time with life in general.
Also in my comment I stated I don’t use Walmart. Rarely ever go to target.
And yes. All consuming is unethical, a slave made the phone or computer you are using this moment. However, that doesn’t mean we need to use amazon and keep directly enriching billionaire scum. How is that so hard ? Are people lazier or dumber than they used to be now in that they can’t search for 2 seconds to find a broom? How about a damn garage sale ???
Used is far better than new in a massive amount of cases. Americans are addicted to shiny new plastic because they’re brainwashed idiots that think they need new everything.
Used is far better than new in a massive amount of cases.
Who is selling used mops? What kind of business sustains itself on that kind of traffic?
Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.
This is the world we live in. It is crazy to pretend a large, open, accessible forum exists for second-hand goods when brand new shit is thrown in incinerators to keep the bottom from falling out of the retail market.
Who is selling used mops? What kind of business sustains itself on that kind of traffic?
Tons of people on eBay who probably steal them from the corporations or resell from the Chinese companies which manufacture them in the first place, which is way more ethical than buying them from American oligarch-owned resellers.
If I search “mop and bucket set” on Amazon, most results are in the $35 - $45 range, some as high as $60. Comparable mops on eBay (it seems 100% identical except it has a metal ring instead of a red plastic triangle over the mop) are $20 - $35. Then that exact same mop is $17.12 on Aliexpress (with free shipping, from a local warehouse). That’s not “used”, to be fair, but it’s a way smarter way of shopping and doesn’t support Amazon.
Another example is that H2O2 was $8.50 on Amazon at one point, yet like $1 or $2 each at my local Walgreens. Yes, same volume bottle. That was a while ago though, when I was still using Amazon, so I can’t say that’s still the case.
Or if you very literally want “used” for some reason, I did find one guy on Craigslist selling mop and bucket sets for $15 lol. Probably even more people on Facebook Marketplace, including some who might even be giving it away for free.
Your example of a mop is silly though. Like, you can totally get a used mop at a garage sale. Or just dont use amazon for it at least if you must have a new one.
Also, have you not heard of eBay?? Yes, its full of shitty China amazon resellers too, but there’s real items there as well as tons of other sites people sell on.
My main point is, we are addicted and brainwashed to new shit we absolutely don’t need. If people thought about reducing and reusing for 1 second we could topple corporations. But no. Must have new. More oil to make more plastic shit to go to landfills. Throw out the TV when it breaks because nothing is repairable now etc get a new phone yearly etc.
The fact that people can’t stop using this shitty ass marketplace is proof we are doomed. Its NOT THAT FUCKING HARD to buy ANYWHERE ELSE . i have not used Walmart or amazon in over a decade. Never really used it before either because I knew their plan. Destroy all other businesses so there is nowhere to go, take over the entire market, then sell shit product for more while being the only employer left. Tale as old as time.
The stupidity of humans makes us deserve this honestly. Now pair this with people who won’t get off their ass to vote. To fill in a bubble on paper. 100% doomed, dont even try to fix it.
It’s saddens me that everyone has an excuse — even those who recognize the problem.
Look I’m not perfect either. I’m part of this shitty system. I fuck up and buy shit I don’t need sometimes. But at least I’m trying.
If a box with a smile shows up on my door it’s because I didn’t know three seller used Amazon / their boxes.
Yeah exactly , but we are trying. The majority dont even try.
While I completely agree with you and I try not to use either company, lot of people who live in rural America do not have a choice. My parent well used to be parents before my dad died, does not drive and doesn’t always have someone to get deliveries for her elsewhere. Even so The only place to shop in the area she lives is Walmart. There is no other place except for grocery stores. So where do you suggest those people shop other than Amazon and Walmart? Personally I live in a place where I can go to Costco and that’s where I get most of my items but for things that are unable to be bought at Costco (for example a rare size screw but I need for a mechanical part) can sometimes only be bought at Amazon.
Yeah I get the specific use cases for it. Thats fine. They’re not the issue. Its the clueless people using it when they dont need to at all
Thats great, but perfection is the enemy of good enough. I dont think one has to eliminate it entirely, there are some niche things that are only offeres through these marketplaces. But if there is an alternative place to acquire it (starting in your community), always favor it!
All it takes is a reduction of usage by everyone to send a message. Expecting people to go cold turkey is a bridge too far right now. Kudos though for being able to do that
In most places in rural America Walmart is the only place to shop at other than a grocery store. And sometimes they don’t even have a separate grocery store. People in large metropolitan areas seem to forget there’s a whole lot of America that’s rural and nothing else is available there.
Yeah even cutting back would be good.
I haven’t been able to convince a single person of this. They’ll just keep their prime and Netflix sub’s while getting fed even more ads and paying for them. They think “this is the world” and dont even know how to change.
Coworkers were talking about their $200 or more cable+subscription bills the other day. I felt pretty good that day. People waste a lot of money.
Yep The only way I have found a combat is to share subscriptions with people. Currently I am sharing my Amazon account with my mom (and my dad before he passed away) My spouse, my aunt, My best friend, her husband, and her sister. We all use the same login and we all trust each other enough not to use each other’s credit cards. So you have to be able to have that trust in someone but at least that means Amazon is not getting six separate prime membership payments. But unfortunately I do end up having to use them for my mom who lives in a rural area
Why have any subscriptions ? You own nothing then.
I’d rather ask Patchy 🫣
What? I don’t understand what you’re asking. Six or seven of us share one Amazon account.
I meant other subscriptions.
I don’t have any other subscriptions. Literally prime the only one I have. I don’t pay for Disney or Hulu because it is included in my Xfinity but we don’t pay for anything else
They’ve been cutting education in US for past half a century. They’ve been moving income from working class to billionaire class. They’ve propagandized the blame so well that even you blame your peers or poor people instead of the rulingnclass who have planned for this longer than you’ve been alive.
I’m not blaming poor people. If anything they are smarter about what’s happening vs the upper middle class .
I was more complaining about the stupidity of upper white rich class folks listening to fox news and Joe rogan, with zero critical thought, who got us into this shit even worse.
But yes, its 100% the billionaires fault. I see no way to undo their damage unfortunately. As you said, the lack of education and brainwashing has people firmly in their wrong beliefs and they won’t change easily, if ever.
Now we wait until the collapse
You CAN educate and improve the middle and lower classes, but you CANNOT and will not dismantle the game that was planned and set up for centuries. Rules have been there written in black and white with a highlighter, but no one wants to read them.
“Well, I don’t shop at Amazon for ethical reasons.”
“Oh, you don’t buy any common commercial goods?”
“No no no. I just buy them ethically.”
“Where do you get your ethically sourced consumer goods?”
“Target and Walmart”
🫠
Bitch, I just need a mop to mop my floor so its not sticky. Where do I get a new mop? Point me to the place to buy a fucking mop that doesn’t involve some asshole on the internet heckling me over it.
Don’t you know you’re supposed to make your own rope from cotton that you’ve grown, and make your own mop with wood that you harvested from your backyard?
The grocery store. A 99cent store. Local hardware store.
The Ethical Dollar Tree
Yeah, when I take an inventory of the businesses I frequent and follow this train of thought, it ultimately boils down into the line “No ethical consumption under capitalism” I’ve read before.
If it’s a company we’ve heard of, it inevitably has an entire collection of rich psychopaths running and owning it. Local small businesses can be better, or they can be run by hateful bigots and/or small-time psychopaths that charge twice as much.
I just try to find the reasonable balance between trying to reduce harm and not support the worst of the worst, while also participating in society.
Aliexpress.
I have only used Amazon once in the last 2 years (it was a very specific tool that was sold literally nowhere else, even eBay, and was only like $20), Walmart a handful of times, and Target only for cat sand.
If you can’t eliminate the harm you contribute to (which, fair, none of us can in America), you are responsible for minimizing it. Triage, sort of. Gotta choose between 3 shit companies? Evaluate which one is the least-shit and go that route.
And that varies for everyone. The people who have a Walmart as their only source of fresh groceries within a 30 mile radius are going to need to shop at Walmart more often than I do, and that’s fine.
You don’t think aliexpress is ran by billionaires?
Quote where I said or implied that.
Well you were saying to use AliExpress instead of Amazon in order not to feed the billionaires basically is what I inferred from your comment.
Not to feed the American billionaires who are currently actively ruining my life and the life of all those who I love. Chinese billionaires are certainly no friend of the working class, but again, “lesser evil” is the game when it comes to consumption (unless you can buy used). The CCP literally disappeared Jack Ma for a few months last time he stepped out of line lol (and the CCP is also no friend of mine, to be clear, but is also absolutely less evil than my country)
“You can’t shop at Amazon, that’s unethical”
“Where should I shop?”
“Chinese Amazon”.
Okay, bro.
Correct, China is not currently engaged in a war of expansionism for the benefit of a genocidal apartheid occupation of land rightfully owned by the Palestinian people.
They’re not perfect, but they’re the “lesser evil”. Don’t you liberals love that game?
If nothing else, giving $17 to a corporation is quantifiably half as bad as giving $34. (EDIT: Not surprised at downvotes, I’ve learned Blue MAGA also hates basic math - such as “Holocaust Harris would’ve lost even if she secured every single third-party vote except those for RFK Jr”)
The only people I hear who keep saying “China is a lesser evil” are the same ones insisting we were right to assassinate all those Iranian politicians.
uh ok
I’m not that
If you can’t buy a broom without using amazon, youre gonna have a hard time with life in general.
Also in my comment I stated I don’t use Walmart. Rarely ever go to target.
And yes. All consuming is unethical, a slave made the phone or computer you are using this moment. However, that doesn’t mean we need to use amazon and keep directly enriching billionaire scum. How is that so hard ? Are people lazier or dumber than they used to be now in that they can’t search for 2 seconds to find a broom? How about a damn garage sale ???
Used is far better than new in a massive amount of cases. Americans are addicted to shiny new plastic because they’re brainwashed idiots that think they need new everything.
Okay, but my floor is sticky. What Do?
Who is selling used mops? What kind of business sustains itself on that kind of traffic?
Amazon’s burning approach to unsold and returned products
This is the world we live in. It is crazy to pretend a large, open, accessible forum exists for second-hand goods when brand new shit is thrown in incinerators to keep the bottom from falling out of the retail market.
Tons of people on eBay who probably steal them from the corporations or resell from the Chinese companies which manufacture them in the first place, which is way more ethical than buying them from American oligarch-owned resellers.
If I search “mop and bucket set” on Amazon, most results are in the $35 - $45 range, some as high as $60. Comparable mops on eBay (it seems 100% identical except it has a metal ring instead of a red plastic triangle over the mop) are $20 - $35. Then that exact same mop is $17.12 on Aliexpress (with free shipping, from a local warehouse). That’s not “used”, to be fair, but it’s a way smarter way of shopping and doesn’t support Amazon.
Another example is that H2O2 was $8.50 on Amazon at one point, yet like $1 or $2 each at my local Walgreens. Yes, same volume bottle. That was a while ago though, when I was still using Amazon, so I can’t say that’s still the case.
Or if you very literally want “used” for some reason, I did find one guy on Craigslist selling mop and bucket sets for $15 lol. Probably even more people on Facebook Marketplace, including some who might even be giving it away for free.
Unfortunately fb marketplace has a stranglehold on the used market, but damn have I got deals there.
Yeah it’s the only thing I’d still use FB for at this point
Yeah, ive read grapes of wrath! Excellent book.
Your example of a mop is silly though. Like, you can totally get a used mop at a garage sale. Or just dont use amazon for it at least if you must have a new one.
Also, have you not heard of eBay?? Yes, its full of shitty China amazon resellers too, but there’s real items there as well as tons of other sites people sell on.
My main point is, we are addicted and brainwashed to new shit we absolutely don’t need. If people thought about reducing and reusing for 1 second we could topple corporations. But no. Must have new. More oil to make more plastic shit to go to landfills. Throw out the TV when it breaks because nothing is repairable now etc get a new phone yearly etc.