The key is 100% boycotting all services provided by a company. Wikipedia’s list of Amazon product/services as reference (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amazon_products_and_services).
Incidentally, I know entire neighborhoods that don’t have other grocery stores besides Target/Whole Foods, not to mention that AWS is the cloud computing industry standard… As a personal example, my vet-prescribed cat foods are manufactured by Purina, a subsidary of Nestlé (needless to say, a separate but also extremely evil large corporation)
From the DSA instagram 6 days ago:
Why didn’t the “economic blackout” change anything?
Stocks rose Friday instead of falling, and there was no sign that the “economic boycott” that spread across social media had any impact whatsoever, other than maybe being a promotional tool for smaller businesses.
Why didn’t it work and what would work instead?
We don’t have power as “consumers”.
Working people are always going to need to buy things. And even if a large portion of workers stopped buying everyday goods from Target or Starbucks, we’d still need to pay rent, pay the mortgage, pay utilities, and ultimately depend on a larger supply chain. You can’t “opt-out” of capitalism.
Boycotts that work are focused on a clear target and have with a specific demand, and are built on long-term, deep organizing. But even then, as a tactic, a boycott isn’t going to be what brings the economy to a halt to stop the Trump agenda.
We have power as workers.
In January 2019, a 35 day shutdown of the federal government came to an end after the flight attendants union announced their intention to strike. Such a strike would have grounded a large percentage of air travel, which even if just for a short period of time would have had a devastating impact on the US economy.
If we want to hit the ruling class where it hurts we need to organize as workers, not as consumers. Our power is in collectively withholding our labor, not withholding our dollars (which we only have in the first place by selling our labor).
Strikes are organized, not mobilized.
Strikes don’t happen because someone made an Instagram post calling for it and then everyone thought it was a good idea.
Strikes are the result of long-term organizing that builds tightly structured organization through a series of escalating actions that show the level of support for the union, which if successful leave workers confident and the boss afraid.
A strike can’t work if only a minority of workers walk out either. Strikes require a supermajority of workers to be effective.
So what can you do?
Join an organization like DSA that is working to build the kind working class power necessary not just to beat back Trump’s attacks but to win a better world.
Join the labor movement. Organize at work, in your union if you have one, and get trained on the secrets of successful organizing through organizations like Labor Notes. Looking for a new job? Consider taking a job in a “strategic sector” like healthcare, education, or logistics.
Stop scrolling and start talking to your coworkers, your neighbors, friends, and family. The revolution will not be posted. Revolutions are made through organizing.
We don’t have power as “consumers”.
If even 10% of consumers “bought” like I do the economy would suffer greatly. Almost everything I acquire was trash, recycled, repurposed, used, etc. I could show someone around my house and property for 2 solid hours showing off all the deals I got or created.
Just in the last week I’ve found in my hood:
- Nice dryer - repaired and selling now
- 3 vacuum cleaners, 2 of which are also carpet cleaners and are brand new, cleaning for sale
- Leaky, portable ice maker, probably just needs unclogged
- 3 kid’s scooters, fixing up the best for my daughter
- 1 girl’s bike, fixing for my daughter
- More that I’m forgetting. Had to stop and get this stuff fixed and/or sold.
I was building stuff yesterday with culled lumber from the hardware store, $50 for $1,400 worth. When I got home I helped my wife with a sweet curio cabinet she got for $35. LOL, it’s huge!
tl;dr: I find it weird that people just go out and buy stuff new when there’s so much free/cheap/used goods to be had.
Good call. The greenest purchase you can make is fixing the thing you already own.
I’m sorry, but it’s likely literally impossible for this to be the leading paradigm for 10% of people. Maybe 10% would work but I think it’d already be problematic.
You have to remember that the only reason you got these things was because other people didn’t need them anymore. Why didn’t they need it anymore? Because they bought new stuff.
And you surely didn’t get all these things from a single household. Many different households had to get new stuff so their old stuff became available. It’s likely that more than 10 households are necessary to sustain 1 person that gets everything used, because not everyone buys new things all the time, and stuff often breaks instead of still being fine to use.
I personally would eyeball 1-5% of people could do this like you, but this is just a complete unsubstantiated feeling, a guess.
I cancelled my account. It was easy and I don’t miss it. I had that account since 2009. I shop local or not at all (mostly). It feels good to just save money.
Uhmmm, I haven’t used Amazon for anything in at least four years, pretty sure it’s really easy
Have you confirmed that no website you provide ad revenue or membership fees to used AWS? If you haven’t checked, then you probably have supported Amazon. Amazon makes most of their money through AWS.
Regardless, good on you for not buying from Amazon directly. I too haven’t purchased from them for years
It’s not. Not spending money is not a very effective direct action. Like companies can’t just borrow money or be bailed out until people get tired.
Even if all end users boycott Amazon, they’ll still make billions from AWS.
It’s more realistic when the boycotters have a specific demand, e.g. getting the company to divest from Israel.
Then the boycott just has to do them more damage than quitting Israel would.
Its only vialble if there’s a organized critical mass of people doing it.
Don’t aim for 100%. Just 90% would be good. Make it a point when buying something to look for someone else first. Often there is a widget.com company that sells the same thing for a similar price but they have experts to write up the description and so help you choose which of the 100 different manufactures is really best for you. Every brand says they have the best, but often there are differences an expert would know about that you will never figure out on amazon.
Amazon reviews are terrible - sure what you choose worked for your purposes, but almost nobody buys all 100 (or even 10 of them) and compares, and thus you don’t know if this works but should be a 3 star because of how much better something they didn’t buy is.
The most plausible way is a short-term boycott for like 2 weeks at the end of their fiscal reporting period. You want the rebound not to be reflected in the quarterly report so it fucks with the share prices.
If you strive for perfection you will always fall short. Just do what you can. I started actually going to stores instead of buying things online, but sometimes that is not feasible. If I absolutely have to buy something from Amazon, I canceled my Prime and just wait longer for my packages. As for the other services Amazon provides I have no idea. Look for alternatives as best you can.
The goal is more about giving as little money as possible to Amazon. You don’t have to go cold turkey and cut it all out if it causes problems for you. Use this time to research alternatives for the future as you pivot away.
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It’s very effective when a lot of people agree and follow suit, these companies panic and now REALLY quickly when they no longer have a functioning business model. You have to have consumers willing to buy from you.
0% chance
A lot of the time, asking local businesses what they can do/order for you helps a lot. Just because they don’t have it doesn’t mean they can’t get it. Some local grocers offer delivery services. If you have the time, seed money and patience, you can grow a lot of food in a small amount of space.
My cat has a special diet, too. I asked if I could use pet food from an independent brand - since it was a food allergy, just a matter of excluding chicken and grain - and the vet said it was fine.
AWS is harder to avoid, but if you have to use a service, there are other companies who will put the effort in to take part of the pie from amazon.
A direct boycott of Amazon and its subsidiaries? Super easy, barely an inconvenience.
But boycotting services that happen to use Amazon? Impossible!
Any business may use products ordered from there. Your local toll gate may use AWS. Unless you are a major client nobody is going to let you audit their supply contracts.
Yeah, AWS is ginormous and largely invisible. You can usually figure out when something’s in AWS if you can traceroute it, and sometimes by IP, but that requires knowing the IP of the server in question AND having the know-how to use and understand those tools’ output.
