Breaking up with Amazon

As I divest from corporate oligarchs, Amazon is an obvious place to start. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and the world’s second wealthiest man, sat behind Trump at his inauguration, which Amazon supported with a $1 million donation. And previously, Bezos, owner of the Washington Post, ended the paper's decades-long practice of endorsing presidential candidates so as to prevent the paper's planned endorsement of Kamala Harris in October 2024.

It's not new that tech giants would support a Presidential inauguration, and Amazon supported Biden's inauguration fund in 2021 with $276,000 and Trump's 2017 inauguration with $58,000. [...More about corporate money in politics.]

But aside from Bezos’ role in the oligarchs club, and tech money influencing politics in general, there are a host of other reasons why I really shouldn’t have been supporting Amazon to begin with. Reasons that have been embarrassingly easy to forget when Amazon offers low prices and convenience, alongside incredible marketing and PR that helps consumers feel at ease about their support of the retail giant.

Exploits international workers

• Amazon has demonstrated a pattern of working with companies in China accused of using forced labor despite public warnings about their work practices (NBC News).
• Contracted workers in Amazon's warehouses in Saudi Arabia had to pay recruitment agents US $1,500 to secure the work, often taking high-interest loans to pay the fees. They were then often cheated of their earnings, housed under dangerous conditions, and "prevented from finding alternative employment or leaving the country” (Amnesty International). Once called out for the violations, Amazon responded with a statement that the conditions had been remediated.
• A 2019 Wall Street Journal report found clothes being sold on Amazon from 51 factories that other brands had blacklisted, including "clothes made in Bangladeshi factories that leading fashion companies have shunned as unsafe for workers."

Has unsafe conditions and injuries for workers in the U.S.

• Unethical delivery practices that result in unsafe conditions for drivers and citizens (Buzzfeed)
• Injuries in its warehouses (Gizmodo)

Undercuts small businesses with monopolistic practices

• Monopolistic practices (with low prices that ultimately crush competition and later yield higher prices)
• But also tax avoidance?

Sells counterfeit and unsafe products

4… Not to mention sells counterfeit products (CNN)