Dark Thoughts in a Dark Time - with Judgement for Everyone

So I just wanted to get some thoughts out into the ether as this whole THING continues to devolve. Like many others, no doubt, my thoughts are getting increasingly dark.  On the Covid front, as the church debate raged, I thought, "Fine! Open the churches, you stupid, STUPID humans! Go flock and congregate and hug each other and spitilize each other with your holy Covid while you cry about the rapture....but don't you DARE go to the hospital after. Just stay home and pray, and I promise to send you some thoughts, as well, until you die, drowning in your own lungs, secure in the knowledge that you dun skooled dem liberals!  Go to the beaches!  Go slobber ALL over your hillbilly, knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, misogynist, inbred cousins at a 'freedom lunch' - take yourselves out of the gene pool, and off the voter rolls!"

But then I think about my friend Kathie, who served our country with me in the Peace Corps, and who is now working on the front lines in a Chicago hospital. The precautions she has to take, the get up/PPE she has to wear for TWELVE HOURS is, insane.  And she has to risk her life so you can get your fucking roots done or run to the Wal-Mart for a new pair of stretch leopard print pants?  Fuck you!  So the moral question for the day is: How can I "root" for all these dumbasses to take themselves out of the gene pool while still making sure heroes like Kathie remain safe?  I really wanna know.

I mean, god knows the planet is actually LIKING this shit!  All kinds of environmental markers are improving due to the global slowdown. And the way Covid is mutating - and the SHITTY way we're responding - maybe that means this is "The Plan."  You wanna call it from God, you wanna call it Karma, Fate, payback, whatever, maybe enough of humanity will eventually be wiped out that the earth's ecosystem will regain its equilibrium. Probably not, but nice to hope.

And NOW we have the country on fire after the latest outrageous, murderous assault on the Black community. Combined with quarantine fatigue, and an insanely ignorant antagonizer-in-chief, we are that much closer to complete chaos.  And yet, while my disgust and contempt for the hatemongers continues, my shame for the ongoing atrocities committed in this country continues, my patience for "armchair progressives" is fast disappearing, as well. 

So many "good people" I know are decrying the ludicrous excuses and whingeing from "patriots" about how their "freedoms" are being assaulted by being forced to wear a mask.  Rightfully so, these good "progressives" sneer at these people too lazy and privileged to "inconvenience" themselves for the overall betterment and protection of society.

And yet how many of these "good progressives" continue to validate and utilize Facebook - an entity that ALREADY had so. many. reasons to stop being used before Zuckerberg's DISGUSTING rationalization of leaving up Trump's latest outrages - after even TWITTER tagged it??  I've heard all sorts of lame, lazy, rationalizations on why it's okay for them to still use such a morally offensive platform  - and then turn right around and slam those "ignorant rednecks" for using eerily similar rationalizations on why they can still go out without a mask.

Ditto for Amazon.  I know from personal experience it is MUCH easier to wean yourself off of Amazon than people think.  But, again, I hear tiresome shit like, "Oh, it's so much more convenient, and it's a little cheaper (not true) and blah blah blah."  Again, basically you think you don't have any responsibility to try and make the world better for others - your sole responsibility is living your life in the way most convenient for you you you and fuck the general public or any millions of people that may be damaged by your personal CHOICE.

Look, I know I can come off as a moralizing little prig. Call it a character flaw. And while I'm sometimes late to the party (e.g., I didn't dump Amazon and Facebook until the past year), I was still raised to believe you need to "walk your talk" - and so I've tried to do that by working non-profit, rather than corporate; by serving my country as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in one country and working for them in another; by being a foster dad, an adoptive dad, and a guardian ad litem; etc.  And I would never presume to suggest everyone else needs to do all those things - but for God's sake, at least don't be a fucking hypocrite about your "progressive values." Like, for example, smugly pontificating about how you refuse to use "self check out" because it takes jobs away, but then continue to shop at Wal-Mart which has killed MILLIONS of jobs by simply making it more convenient for you to get poisoned meat and cheaper slave labor tube socks in the same place.

Or the "pragmatic progressive" shaking their heads in judgement over those uppity rioters destroying small businesses, muttering platitudes like, "They say they're protesting the way their community is left behind, but look at how they damage the small business in their community! No sympathy!"  And then that same "pragmatic progressive" will order tons of useless shit on Amazon - which has been, and continues to be, devastating to small and local businesses--due in part to hypocritical progressives.

Finally, how many "good people" decry the coarsening of the national debate, rant and rave over how easily disinformation gets spread, or hate speech, and yet continue to use Facebook because, well, by golly, how will I see what my sister had for breakfast and it's just too "difficult" and "inconvenient" for me to give it up right now, but look over there at that asshole who can't be bothered to wear a mask for the greater good?

Seriously, I am OVER your excuses, otherwise "good" people.  Hyperbole aside, never has there been a much better time period for the phrase, "If you are not part of the solution, you must be part of the problem."  By all means, continue to speak out against institutional racism, march and protest and lobby your legislators to address the economic inequity in the country, blast the continuing control of ever fewer entities in our oligarchy--causing untold damage on multiple levels to the vast majority of the populace.  Just don't expect me to smile and nod along with you without first asking, "And what, EXACTLY, are YOU doing to address some of these issues?"  Seriously, I'm listening!

And judging. Coz lord knows I've got PLENTY of judgement to spare!

I SAID, am I right?

I've lived through some pretty scary shit.  I was in Thailand during the 2014 military coup--and the only way I noticed it in the month I spent in Bangkok were the signs scattered throughout the city that said, "Don't worry. It's safe. Elections are coming." Note that these signs were all in English. There were no such calming signs for the locals.  And, unless I'm mistaken, elections still have yet to come (Hail Sataninternet, I just discovered they did finally have elections last year).  Fun fact before we leave Thailand: I was glared into obeisance to the emperor at the first movie I went to see (that excellent Tom Cruise flick where he kept dying over and over again) when, during the previews, they played what was basically an advertisement for the monarch.  As soon as it started, everyone stood up.  I had no clue what was going on.  Stirring music played over bucolic scenes of his most serene majesty's majestic childhood. I was moved.  And then, as I say, glared into standing along with everyone else.  Luckily, I was thus prepared at the other two flicks I caught while in Bangkok.

Not even two months later, I found myself in Lesotho during the whatever-THAT-was coup.  One week into the job and I was tasked with first consolidating all the volunteers in country to six different gathering points, and then shipping them, en masse, just across the border into RSA where they spent about a month (deja vu) semi-sequestered away at this quasi-resort about 30 minutes outside of Bloemfontein.  I was allowed to stay in country, but the new Dir. of Programming was being kept in Johannesburg--although her cats continued on their merry way and had to be cared for by the outgoing Dir. of Programming, who was also Acting Country Director because ours had gone home on home leave squarely in between the time I arrived and the time of the coup.  No Americans in country were allowed to be out on the street after dark.  Local Peace Corps staff pointed out to me the hills we could see from our office where Kamodi (the military leader) was camped out.  It was pretty crazy.

In both of those instances, history nerd that I am, rather than being put out by the goings on, or scared, I was actually grooving on being involved in a historical moment.  Years from now, assuming the human race makes it that much longer, I'll be able to jab my gnarled finger at a computer screen and screech at the poor volunteer visiting me and spooning me soup, "Google Lesotho coup of 2014!  I was there!  Now Google Thai coup of 2014!  I want some Thai food!  I'm old!"

And now I can add Coronvirus to my list of lived-through historical moments.  And while, on the one hand, it loses some luster to some of my other big history moments in regards to the number of people actually firsthand witnessing said event, it definitely trumps (pun initially not intended, but then deliberately left in place) those other events in sheer.....sheer.....I don't even have the words.

I wanted to get this into the ether to test a theory.  I think we're all going to be fine, in the grand scheme of things, and of course with many, MANY exceptions, but if we're all still honestly hunkered down by the last week of April, I just see lots of indeterminate bad stuff happening.  Like, really bad.  Call it my history spidey senses tingling.  I mean, people are making death threats against Dr. Fauci.  Seriously.  So I feel strongly that, whatever it is that happens, it will have been as a direct result of the COMPLETE abandonment of any sort of leadership from the Executive branch.  I can't even type that monster's name (outside of the pun), I am so agog at the mishandling.  There has GOT to be a civil suit - maybe even class action - sitting in the wings against this POS for directly contributing to the loss of life. 

Am I right?  I SAID, am I right?

Why I'm ditching Amazon

Luckily, there are plenty of easily-found lists online of why we should ALL be ditching Amazon, and I'll include the best one below - at least best IMHO.  But, for me, ultimately, it comes down to walking my talk.  I don't wanna be one of those people who is constantly rending my garments, gnashing my teeth, etc. over our fucked up hyper-consumerist lifestyle and what it's doing to small business, to labor rights, to the environment etc.  I can't be one of those people who whine about the way things are going and yet come up with all kinds of excuses to still shop at Wal-Mart, to still use Amazon, etc.

Ultimately, after considering all of the issues below--and more--I just can't stomach giving my money to support such an offensive corporation - and you shouldn't either!  :)

1. Exploits workers and fights unions. This article from The Guardian discusses how Amazon has surppressed unions in its warehouses and how unions could help its workers. In this article from Green American’s “Hidden Workers Fighting for Change” issue, we spoke to labor rights activists about the harsh conditions in Amazon’s warehouses and how they need to change. A China Labor watch report from 2018 also found disturbing labor conditions in factories that manufacture Amazon electronics.  

2. Is largely powered by fossil fuels. Green America’s Build a Cleaner Cloud campaign has been pushing Amazon for years to use clean energy to power its web hosting services, one of the biggest cloud storage hosts on the internet, and gotten Amazon to 50% clean energy (which means the other 50% is largely from coal, gas, giant hydropower, and nukes). The Center for Biological Diversity’s “Amazon Shine” campaign pushes Amazon to use solar energy to power its warehouses for the good of wildlife habitats.  

3. Fights tax laws that would support local economies. This Atlantic article discusses how Amazon worked to kill a business tax in Seattle that would have created affordable housing in the city that is home to Amazon’s headquarters. This USA Today article talks about how Amazon raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in a faux grassroots campaign called “No Tax on Jobs” in Seattle. 

4. Creates excessive packaging waste. A Forbes writer dives deep into the waste issues created by the online shopping marketplace and Amazon in particular. This Bloomberg article goes into the growth in cardboard waste in the rise of Amazon Prime. 

5. Raised minimum wages at the expense of workers’ benefits and incentives. In October, Amazon announced that the company’s minimum wage would be raised to $15 an hour. The Washington Post wrote about how even workers affected by this change were not excited, because the increase is not enough to consider many of its jobs “good jobs.” NBC News discussed how Amazon dropped stock plans and bonuses at the same time as it raised the minimum wage, which left many unhappy.  

6. Facilitates the human rights crisis on the US-Mexico border. The Guardian reported that Amazon Web Services hosts the Department of Homeland Security's databases which allows "the department and its agencies to track and apprehend immigrants."

7. Stifles the voices of authors and harms the flow of information to the public. A New York Times journalist talked to publishers and authors about why Amazon wasn’t helping them, and how the company might be violating anti-trust laws. 

8. Rakes in billions in taxpayer subsidies for its new headquarters buildings in Virginia, despite being worth over $1 trillion. Investigators at The Intercept reported that Amazon’s “HQ2” will cost Virginia taxpayers $4.6 billion, twice as much as the company stated. The Washington Post reported it would cost taxpayers $2.5 billion, but that’s still one of the world’s most valuable companies tapping taxpayers’ money to build headquarters that will create a lot of negative impacts for local residents.  Not to mention the well-publicized fact that they paid ZERO taxes!

9. Penalizes small businesses that use its platforms. The Sun magazine did a feature interview with author Stacy Mitchell on how Amazon undermines local economies and is bad for small businesses.  

10. Treats workers of its own delivery services poorly, which unlike UPS and USPS are not unionized. Inc digs into the struggles of being a driver for a company that promises rapid delivery. Business Insider spoke to 31 Amazon drivers and heard several disturbing stories of a physically demanding and poor-paying job.