Boycotting Amazon

Sel - Yep - in a nutshell. You're comment 'Companies do deals with Governments' says it all. Always have done and always will.

I read this thread from beginning to end this morning. Started off being informed and ended up feeling very shirty indeed. If I wish to involve myself in boycotting a specific issue, then I will. Being preached at doesn't cut it with me.

B - In your last post you've put into words exactly what I've been feeling and struggling to say.

granjura I found that comment quite patronising. I can see why it was applicable to teenagers, but to suggest it could be aimed at us, with our accumulative wealth of life experience is pointless. I appreciate your frustration that not all of us agree with you, but that is life. Live with it!

yup. Whose doing a huge chunk of the voluntary work and unpaid caring round here...? Us, that's who.
(But there is a bit of me that wants to confiscate the X boxes and tell the parents to stop ferrying their offspring to entertainment and self development opportunities every five minutes!)

Sel They are not American companies; they are transnationals which is what makes it possible to operate at a loss on paper in the UK for so many years.

Thought I might lighten things a bit - it's an updated classic:

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by Your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated General offer so that you get all four cows back,with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

A QUEBEC CORPORATION
See "A French Corporation".

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you don´t know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
Nobody believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

A GREEK CORPORATION
You have two cows borrowed from French and German banks.
You eat both of them.
The banks call to collect their milk, but you cannot deliver so you call the IMF.
The IMF loans you two cows.
You eat both of them.
The banks and the IMF call to collect their cows/milk.
You are out getting a haircut.

I suggest that if we all write to our MPs (especially coalition ones), and keep writing until we get satisfactory replies, it will have far more effect than a boycott by a minority of Amazon customers which, to my mind, would be akin to a flea bite on an elephant, even if it makes the flea feel good. I am off to email my MP.

Sel what a great start to the day. I have vague memories of reading this years ago but it really made me smile.

Thank you Sel, I'd seen the original and like the updated version even more.

Bags I would have thought Gransnet would be a completely appropriate place to "get on your high horse". Granjura is simply putting forward her views. Forcefully. And why not? It isn't preaching. It's healthy debate.

And I agree with her. And with the point Jendurham makes re the family having to live, and one them, die, in that awful flat.

I just wish it was easier to b oycott Amazon.

They seem to have cast their net wide and ensnared a lot of us. (sorry for mixed metaphors)

jings, if you want to believe that boycotting amazon will make a difference to ther poor families like that, you go ahead and believe it.

I don't agree that jura is 'just' putting forward a point of view. She is criticising people as well, and so was JenD, by implying that we are not doing our share to try and improve the world, simply because the ways in which we wish to go about making a difference are not the same ways that they would choose.

But you're right, if anyone wants to get on a high horse on GN, that's fine.

So is asking them to get off their high horse because their high horsism is becoming a pain in the butt.

It's a bit of a stretch to hold Amazon responsible for the unfortunate cot death of the poor family we have mentioned.

Or to think that if Amazon paid more tax, such dreaful poverty would cease to exist.

JO5, it's dead easy to boycott Amazon. Just don't buy anything from them.

Worth the inconvenience surely, if you think it will save lives!

And whilst I'm on my high horse, is it necessary to employ emotional blackmail in these discussions?

Oh yes. Very easy! I don't drive - I've got a bike. DH is a nightmare in shops.

My days of lugging home pressies on said bike are, I thought, over.

Will now have to re-think.

And wobble.

PS I hate buses (due to OCD)

It's fact. Call it emotional blackmail if you will. [shrug]

I would think if we got the tax Amazon, and these other companies, should be paying, it would help the economy markedly. And that might go towards helping the disadvantaged.

Meanwhile the current government spends our taxes on dismantling the NHS so that we can pay tax and pay again for health care

Since I have decided to boycott Amazon for the foreseeable, I've been busy trying to find alternative sources for my many Xmas presents. Local shops are the obvious best answer because, as we all know, most high street businesses are struggling and small independents have been badly hit. We've all seen too many empty shops and/or charity shops and/or pound shops take over shopping areas - and yet there are still too many empty shops in many places. If you don't think boycotts can work, just have a look at what happens to the high street when people stop shopping there!

In lieu of local shops, there is also Play.com which I have discovered has some books I want that Amazon does not have AND all the DVDs and books I've researched are actually cheaper than Amazon AND have free delivery!
(Now I just have to hope that Play.com pays tax. . .)

Appropos nothing else on this thread, if you want a series of delightful books for young girls, "Fancy Nancy" does it for my granddaughter.

Say Amazon paid the tax, do you really believe the government would use it in any meaningful way ?

In which case let's all stop paying tax then. What the heck?

And then blame 'the Government' - hey ho!?!
Brilliant thinking.

Cheerio ladies. As you said, sometimes energy is wasted on some causes.

While the government – any government – manages to waste quite a lot of taxpayers' money and it seems this bunch of MPs still includes a number who think claiming expenses is a way to supplement their incomes, it does also spend the money on the things we probably all use and/or value. How many Gransnetters drive cars? They wouldn't be much use without roads. How many Gransnetters are pensioners? Well, we may be entitled to our pensions but the money hasn't been sitting in a savings account all our lives until now; it comes out of taxes. How many of us have been treated in a hospital in the last 12 months? So the recurring suggestion that any tax money recouped by closing loopholes would just be thrown away is a tad silly.

j05 emotional blackmail comment - didn't mean you. Thought I'd say that even though you weren't bothered.

Good luck with doing without Amazon.

I could if it wasn't for my Kindle. But that's because I've got John Lewis to fall back on.

Incidentally, JL were quoted as saying Amazon could put them out of business in the future if things continue as they are and they continue to be able to undercut other businesses because they don't have to pay so much tax.

I suppose that is another aspect to the situation; unfair advantage to Amazon over other businesses.

Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I've bought many xmas presents from Amazon this year. Just two of those big gun things that are in the top toys lists. (Could not have got those home on my bike)

Yes. It is mostly kindle. And apps for grandson's Leap-pad.