This fixation with Amazon is different, though. Amazon is the monster I invited into my home over a decade-and-a-half ago, when I started buying books for college online, and it’s been living in my basement since then, eating my spare change and growing. Over the years, when Prime entered the scene, the monster demanded more than the erstwhile meal of stray dollar bills and tapped directly into my bank account, where it started sucking down funds, like a colossus with a straw that led straight to my milkshake. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the beast’s company sometimes. It’s always giving me fresh reasons to enjoy having it around. And it’s become increasingly apparent that Amazon Prime, now my nefarious old friend, can’t be replaced.
Mike Caulfield puts forward another response to this situation. He argues that rather than worrying about the Walmarts and Amazons, we should use the money saved to fund an organisation that supports your aims.
Go to Walmart and save $10 a week. At the end of the year give that $520 to a political or advocacy organization that supports your aims. Or use it to fund a newspaper that investigates Walmart. Or send it somewhere else to have an impact.