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Amazon - force for good, or evil


john luke

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Opinions are divided.  On one hand Amazon have a fantastic range of goods at competitive prices with free 24 or 48 hour delivery.  They also offer streaming services with Amazon Prime.  On the other hand they are accused of not paying their fare share of tax, exploiting staff and being responsible for the demise of the High Street.

Where do members stand on this?

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I would say I am a fan of Amazon.

Lots of great things to say about the company.  Not sure how here in the USA we would have fared without Amazon to keep us stocked up at home during the various lock downs.  Probably kept millions of Americans from going out and visiting a bunch of retail outlets to find that one needed item.  Which was then found in seconds on the Amazon site, and then arrived at your home within two days.

I often wonder how society as a whole would have fared throughout this pandemic without online retail capability and the Internet as a whole, for entertainment and communication connectivity.

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For all their sins, of which there are many, they are now very much a part of life in the same way as Apple and Microsoft are.

Personally I utterly despise them. Excessive packaging, poor customer service as well as being responsible for the demise of the UK High street and a deliberate avoidance of taxes that , if paid fairly, would do the UK a lot of good.

For a Company of such magnitude, if they paid even 50% of their taxes legitimately and without seeking dubious loopholes then they would have a lot more respect from the public, and possibly might get the likes of myself to use them and their services.

Yes, they provide employment, accessible and reasonably priced goods, TV streaming services and entertainment, but at the same time sit on massive profits. The world could be a much better place if they and their ilk played fair.

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Not a big fan of Amazon, or Uber. They do bring cheaper goods/services to the masses, which is the bottom line for consumers. But paying hardly any taxes on their billions in revenues, while taking advantage of vulnerable people with low wages/benefits to earn all that $…..it’s despicable. But nothing will change….

I fear that corporations like this, along with the real estate surge we have seen since COVID hit, are only widening the wealth gap. Don’t see how any young person near a major city really has an honest shot at a comfortable life anymore. Unless they become a surgeon and marry a lawyer lol. 
 

Otherwise it’s going to be a continuous cycle of the rich getting richer, and a good 85% of the population being miserable and slaving away just to survive. Unless they are lucky enough to have inherited wealth form their families, or as I said above, graduated top of their class and have marry someone who did the same

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