Why is Amazon less Evil than Walmart?

Discuss.

Or go off at a tangent.

:D

Not just Amazon but ALL South American rivers are nicer than food stores.

Walmart is not primarily a food store. Amazon is my daughter's middle name.

Amazons could beat the shit out of any Greek army. Plus, their books are better and cheaper than Wally's.

Amazon is keeping the Post Office afloat.

Amazon actually has stuff I want to buy.

Because when you shop at Amazon, you never ever encounter



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I'm hoping that last guy just rode his bike in the rain.

monster;713513 wrote:

Walmart is not primarily a food store. Amazon is my daughter's middle name.

Therefore, if your daughter weighs the same as a book then she's made of food?

Which company has put more local/mom-and-pop stores out of business?

Glinda;713568 wrote:

Because when you shop at Amazon, you never ever encounter

you can shop walmart online and get pretty much the same stuff as on Amazon. If you try hard enough

monster;713612 wrote:

Which company has put more local/mom-and-pop stores out of business?

That's a single facet or metric for establishing evil. I know that Walmart literally comes into a town and directly starts fucking around with the local mojo. (don't want to type this all out one handed.)
Amazon may divert sales from brick and mortar stores, but they don't usually have a non tax paying physical presence consuming local resources and putting a burden on the community infra structure.

On the other hand, as one of or the largest consumers of energy in the US, they were responsible for a dramatic reduction in packaging. Their motivation was "why are we spending 50 million bucks a year to transport excess packaging?" They told mfgrs to use less packaging (30% less) or they'd be dropped.

Great green move, just not for the crunchy granola motives.

I think in any of these cases it's really hard to make a black and white case.

Have you seen the people of WalMart above? They need virtual glasses at the door for us so that thru them, we all look like Barbie and Ken. :)

Amazon killed Borders .....sorta

I really don't like shopping for books online. (yes I know you get more than books from amazon) I really loved the big Borders in the city here, but I guess they're closing their doors now, and I think that's a shame. I just get such a calm pleasure out of browsing through book stores. Pretty much any one, but there are some real corkers out there. There's this book shop a few streets away from the main shopping district in the city, and it's full of rare and awesome second hand books. Some are cheap, others are locked behind glass. Before Max came along, we used to go there sometimes as a family and spend hours just looking at the books and picking out a few to take home.

Online shopping is not something a family can do together, and it's just not the same anyway.

eta: I don't know if amazon or walmart are evil. Certainly they both serve a need in our current lifestyle, and it'll be a long time yet before consumerism changes enough to get rid of either.

Aliantha;713646 wrote:

I really don't like shopping for books online. (yes I know you get more than books from amazon) I really loved the big Borders in the city here, but I guess they're closing their doors now, and I think that's a shame. I just get such a calm pleasure out of browsing through book stores. Pretty much any one, but there are some real corkers out there. There's this book shop a few streets away from the main shopping district in the city, and it's full of rare and awesome second hand books. Some are cheap, others are locked behind glass. Before Max came along, we used to go there sometimes as a family and spend hours just looking at the books and picking out a few to take home.

Online shopping is not something a family can do together, and it's just not the same anyway.

eta: I don't know if amazon or walmart are evil. Certainly they both serve a need in our current lifestyle, and it'll be a long time yet before consumerism changes enough to get rid of either.

Ali, if you are anywhere near Nambour, they have what claims to be Australia's biggest second-hand book store. (And Nambour being what it is, most of the books arrive completely unread, but with grease stains from being used as axle-stands, but I digress).

Don't smoke in there, though, they'll hang you up by the toenails and pummel you with an organic carrot. So the sign says.

ZenGum;713649 wrote:

... they'll hang you up by the toenails and pummel you with an organic carrot...

Sounds like fun :D!

Bookstores, like libraries, have a certain decorum, an atmosphere...like Ali said, peaceful.

Libraries, like bookstores, have had to sell out to the lowest common denominators (though I love that public libraries SERVE the public, the internet has attracted a lot of snivelling teenagers playing shooting games and shouting to each other, and some heavy breathing circus folks trying to sneak pron) in too many cases.

As our real bookstores (and libraries) go the way of the Dinah Sore (and I don't know of a mom and pop bookstore to survive in YEARS) so goes part of a semblance of class and an unspoken camaraderie among like-minded individuals.


Noticed this weekend: went to Wally World to my bank branch. There was some completely gone on some kind of drug woman jumping around the bank and hollerin' and exchanging money. On to the library, watched another woman completely gone on some kind of drug trying to get a library card (without any ID) so she could access the computers.

My guess is that 85% of the top library goers in my town did not bother to vote for the library levy in order for our library to keep providing the services they do. That levy failed, of course.

I don't really have a point, I just miss a part of the pre-internet society.

At least you can get some things through Amazon that aren't made in China.

You can't actually smell the other Amazon patrons. :greenface