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How to Break Free of Amazon During Quarantine and Beyond
Ethical alternatives are out there
Few companies are benefiting from Covid-19 as much as Amazon. Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man and Amazon is now larger than Walmart, so big that Elizabeth Warren, during her presidential campaign, argued for breaking up Amazon due to the fact that it now controls nearly 50% of all e-commerce sales nationally — a figure that has likely grown in the past few months.
In a world where it is no longer easy or, in many cases, possible to visit your local grocery store or mall, defaulting to Amazon Prime is understandable. In fact, for the most part, consumers love Amazon. In a recent U.S. poll ranking confidence in institutions such as the military, nonprofits, the press, religion, the FBI, and tech giants like Amazon and Google, Amazon ranked higher than all other institutions, aside from the Military. In an era of hyperpartisanship, we seem to agree to like Amazon’s cheap prices and convenience.
But that convenience comes at a high price for society and local communities. Amazon did not grow just because of better technology and management than its competitors. Amazon is built on exploiting workers, degrading the environment, selling low-grade products, and ignoring even the bare minimum when it comes to corporate responsibility…
