Monday, July 9, 2018

Amazon does not deserve a cookie.

Above: one of the many abandoned
husks former known as malls that
dot our pre-dystopian landscape.
Say, are looking for that perfect gift that says: 'I hate you, on a racial level' or 'Despite murdering millions and burning down Europe, Hitler had some good ideas'? Well good news racists, according to a report released on Friday, Amazon is still selling white supremacist music, ebooks and merchandise. Of course, this is bad news for everyone else who probably already feels pretty guilty for contributing to the decline of America's retail economy by shopping online in the first place. Now we can add 'abetting racism' to the list.

Pictured: this adorable onesie is
 perfect for the racist baby in your life.
The report, entitled Delivering Hate, was put together by two non-profit groups, The Partnership for Working Families and The Action Center on Race and the Economy. In it, they found that despite having a policy that prohibits items that ' promote or glorify hatred, violence, racial, sexual or religious intolerance or promotes organizations with such views,' Amazon still sells items that glorify hatred, violence, racial sexual or religious intolerance and totally promotes organizations with such views. So, they've completely and utterly failed to follow the policy they set for themselves. Oh, and did I mention that some of these items are aimed at children? Because some of it them are totally aimed at children.

For some context, and to their (slim) credit Amazon, in its laxly adhered to policy, does rank products that glorify hatred, violence and intolerance up there with-and I'm quoting the policy here: 'crime scene photography, morgue or autopsy photos, human body parts, products retrieved from a disaster or tragedy site.' Which, did...did someone, somewhere try to sell human body parts on goddamn Amazon?
"What's in the box?"
-Some customer just before leaving  
 a very negative customer review
So what, do they want a cookie?
Anyway, the report charges that '[E]ither Amazon does not find the materials...to be offensive or otherwise contrary to its policies, or that it does not consistently enforce its own policies.' And I don't know, I'd tend to believe that this is an example of Amazon being incompetent rather than racist, but still. Early Sunday, after public outcry, Amazon removed a lot of these items, but not all of them. Some of the music and ebooks are still up, so I guess they're cool with a little racism?

'The Internet: why let reason, logic or
 basic human decency stand in your way.'

-The Internet's actual slogan
Now because the internet is a thing, and any idiot with access to it can and will say any old idiot thing that comes to their idiot mind (yes, I see the irony), said idiots are bound to accuse Amazon of impinging on their freedom of speech or whatever. Which they're not. They're a business and can refuse to sell whatever they want. In fact, this wasn't them cracking down on something or taking a moral stand, it was just them getting caught being irresponsible and lazy when it comes to their own policies. Although this does kind of the question of why didn't they crack down or take a moral stand?

Like, in 2017 made $117 billion dollars. One hundred and seventeen. Billion. Of money. And Jeff Bezos personally made $31 billion last year. Leaving aside the fact that no one should be allowed to have that much money and that Amazon criminally underpays its warehouse workers, how can they not be paying-sorry, criminally underpaying- someone to de-Nazi their site? Oh shit, is it just cheaper to wait for public outcry to point them out to them?
"Ahhhh! You got me! Jeff 'Path of Least Resistance' Bezos, that's what they call me!"
-Jeff Bezos, blissfully unaware that
 someday, inevitably, an angry mob of
peasants will come knocking at his door.

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