• @Marruk
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    11 year ago

    And why do you think you have no other choice than Amazon and Walmart in America?

    That’s what you said, which is somewhat ambiguous phrasing. It could mean “why do you believe that there are no other choices, because there are?” or it could mean “yes, you have no other choices than those two, but how do you think that happened?”

    Given that you started off by arguing that it was infuriating that anyone would ever shop at Amazon, and have been pretty consistent in your other comments that the solution is to just go to “an actual shop”, the first interpretation is much more appropriate to the context.

    If you really meant “yes, you have no other choices than those two”, then sure, I’ll accept the back pedaling. It doesn’t change that you are infuriated that anyone would shop at Amazon, and accuse those that do of personally destroying the climate because we are lazy. The fact that you are aware that many people simply don’t have a better option, and yet you still judge them so harshly, only makes you look worse.

    • Zloubida
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      11 year ago

      It is ambiguous, you’re right. And I already apologized for that.

      It’s a vicious cycle. You buy on Amazon, actual stores close, so you buy more on Amazon, thus more actual stores close… And at the end, you have only Amazon and Walmart.

      What’s infuriating is not necessarily the fact that people use Amazon. I said that in an other comment. Some people have no other choice. What’s infuriating is people judging normal (I said natural, but it was misinterpreted) to have no other choice that Walmart and Amazon. Or using Amazon where there’s still choice.

      And yes, a lot of people can buy groceries in an actual shop. Most people buying them on Amazon can.

      And yes, the tyranny of convenience is killing us. Because we are lazy.

      • @Marruk
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        11 year ago

        Okay, that all I can agree with. And I feel like there’s a huge difference between buying items on Amazon, and buying groceries on Amazon. I find it really hard to justify the later, but I can still imagine some circumstances where it would be justified (e.g. someone with a disability who can’t travel/carry groceries, and no other local store has viable delivery options).

        It’s a shame. I used to love Amazon. Back when they just sold books they were one of the sites that really highlighted just what the Internet could be. More than a place for entertainment, but a place to obtain things that were otherwise unavailable. Their transition from ‘we sell books’ to ‘we sell everything and we’ll actively destroy anything that might compete with us if we can’ was terrible.

        They managed to even screw up the cost of gas for me. I live in a small town that happened to be chosen by Amazon to be one of their major distribution centers. Our area is filled with their delivery trucks, and as a result the cost of gas is a full $0.20 USD more here than if I drive to the next town over.

        Fuck Amazon. But I refuse to judge people who shop there as harshly. Judging them requires too many assumptions about their personal circumstances.