After January 6, 2021, Amazon released a strongly worded statement announcing it would stop contributing to members of Congress that voted to overturn the election. It said those members were part of an "unacceptable attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process." Here is the full statement, which was released on January 11, 2021:
Amazon. Amazon. How can I cut the cord? Before my surgery this year, I was trapped in my home for 7 years (thru the pandemic too) and grew to depend on delivery services for my office and personal needs. Amazon loomed large. They have all manner of products available at for the most part, acceptable pricing. But do I want to provide further fuel to this behemoth? No, I think not. It's difficult but I am going to make the effort to change my consumption footprint. They won't notice until enough people do the same, but the effort has to begin somewhere, sometime. Why not here & now? We have to fight back against these oligarchs with whatever means at hand, lest the situation worsen. Maybe it will get worse anyway, but I plan to go down swinging.
So like always, these corporations lied and only cared about public perception. Like anything else, with the passage of time people forget. Amazon and these other corporations are depending on it. I just saw an ad by Tim Ryan in Ohio last night. Best ad I've seen for a democrat in the last decade. It looked like a republican ad. It was attacking JD Vance and had his voting record for China and his face plastered in front of a Chinese flag. Some people might say "when they go low, you go high" or some other stupid saying that doesn't actually work in the real world. It was a great ad. We need more ads like this on the left. They work!
It is difficult to cut the cord to these behemoths but I have had some success. I live in a big city so it is easier for me but all holiday shopping is done at street fairs and independent stores. I buy hand made soaps, lotions, unique earrings, art work, chocolates, scarves, gloves on and on. Buy people unique gifts that they can use. I’ve also purchased bed throws that are hand made and use Etsy and other businesses where the money goes directly to the artist.
But I’m stuck with Comcast, who we despise and other companies for certain clothing items etc.
We need the clothing industry back and other manufacturing. Thank you Judd, for your informative research. We must continue to humiliate these companies who support terrorism, nationalism and sedition.
The fact that Amazon said that Jan 6 was months ago, as if it didn’t count as much is an atrocity.
Spread the word of this list.
I’ve given up certain food brands that support rt wing…Amy’s frozen foods and others.
But we need massive response to these shameful companies.
Amazon saying it would stop donating to MOCs who voted to overturn the election and then turning around and saying, "Yeah, well, we didn't mean stopping forever" is such craven BS. Corporate accountability is a complete oxymoron at this point.
Shopping at amazon.com has been in my rearview mirror for about 2-1/2 years now. I maintain a boycott of them because of their initial involvement in helping Trump's administration store data using their cloud services, this when migrants were being routinely mistreated and abused at detention facilities across the nation. You can find reasonable alternatives (in real life or on the internet) for most everything you shop amazon.com for. It can be done. I'm living proof. Ta, Amazon.
I recently read that $13billion is being spent in support of Republicans this election season. $6 billion for Democrats. Dark money is the the biggest source (86%) with no traceable accounting, but corporate PACs, CEO’s and other corporate execs are in the mix. My small dollar donations can have little impact, since we know that the biggest spenders are the usually the winners (avg 91% of the time.) Advertising works, especially as we get closer to elections. Democracy has had a good run in the US, but our radical Supreme Court, along with decades of the right wing effort to capture the media and take control of state legislatures (gerrymandering, voter suppression) have allowed money to manipulate and corrupt our politic. Democracy is not being threatened; it no longer exists. I’m crushed and despondent about the future of my country for me, my children, and grandchildren.
Mega Corps are truly grotesque. We need antitrust action against amazon, Walmart, et al. These companies and their billionaire backers have far too much power. Thanks Judd for pointing out always that every single corp is a soulless, faceless, bloodsucker with no morality. They are destroying democracy and causing more than 50% of inflation with their total market control-wish Dems other than Katie Porter would bang this drum more and legacy media would actually report on 70 yr high corp profits.
Amazon’s move is different from many of the others we’ve discussed. At least as I recall, many other company PACs that you’ve followed have given to funds (like RGA) that support multiple candidates as opposed to openly singling out individual candidates. Unless they’ve given equally to the other candidates in those races, this move is blatant support of these candidates’ positions. The question continues to be what we can do about it. Boycotting Amazon is a non-starter and everyone knows it.
Amazon. Amazon. How can I cut the cord? Before my surgery this year, I was trapped in my home for 7 years (thru the pandemic too) and grew to depend on delivery services for my office and personal needs. Amazon loomed large. They have all manner of products available at for the most part, acceptable pricing. But do I want to provide further fuel to this behemoth? No, I think not. It's difficult but I am going to make the effort to change my consumption footprint. They won't notice until enough people do the same, but the effort has to begin somewhere, sometime. Why not here & now? We have to fight back against these oligarchs with whatever means at hand, lest the situation worsen. Maybe it will get worse anyway, but I plan to go down swinging.
So like always, these corporations lied and only cared about public perception. Like anything else, with the passage of time people forget. Amazon and these other corporations are depending on it. I just saw an ad by Tim Ryan in Ohio last night. Best ad I've seen for a democrat in the last decade. It looked like a republican ad. It was attacking JD Vance and had his voting record for China and his face plastered in front of a Chinese flag. Some people might say "when they go low, you go high" or some other stupid saying that doesn't actually work in the real world. It was a great ad. We need more ads like this on the left. They work!
It is difficult to cut the cord to these behemoths but I have had some success. I live in a big city so it is easier for me but all holiday shopping is done at street fairs and independent stores. I buy hand made soaps, lotions, unique earrings, art work, chocolates, scarves, gloves on and on. Buy people unique gifts that they can use. I’ve also purchased bed throws that are hand made and use Etsy and other businesses where the money goes directly to the artist.
But I’m stuck with Comcast, who we despise and other companies for certain clothing items etc.
We need the clothing industry back and other manufacturing. Thank you Judd, for your informative research. We must continue to humiliate these companies who support terrorism, nationalism and sedition.
The fact that Amazon said that Jan 6 was months ago, as if it didn’t count as much is an atrocity.
Spread the word of this list.
I’ve given up certain food brands that support rt wing…Amy’s frozen foods and others.
But we need massive response to these shameful companies.
I hope others have suggestions.
Time wounds all heels. Amazon my a**.
Amazon saying it would stop donating to MOCs who voted to overturn the election and then turning around and saying, "Yeah, well, we didn't mean stopping forever" is such craven BS. Corporate accountability is a complete oxymoron at this point.
Shopping at amazon.com has been in my rearview mirror for about 2-1/2 years now. I maintain a boycott of them because of their initial involvement in helping Trump's administration store data using their cloud services, this when migrants were being routinely mistreated and abused at detention facilities across the nation. You can find reasonable alternatives (in real life or on the internet) for most everything you shop amazon.com for. It can be done. I'm living proof. Ta, Amazon.
I stopped using Amazon years ago and don't miss it.
We were already doomed in this system, but Citizens United really fucked this all to hell.
I recently read that $13billion is being spent in support of Republicans this election season. $6 billion for Democrats. Dark money is the the biggest source (86%) with no traceable accounting, but corporate PACs, CEO’s and other corporate execs are in the mix. My small dollar donations can have little impact, since we know that the biggest spenders are the usually the winners (avg 91% of the time.) Advertising works, especially as we get closer to elections. Democracy has had a good run in the US, but our radical Supreme Court, along with decades of the right wing effort to capture the media and take control of state legislatures (gerrymandering, voter suppression) have allowed money to manipulate and corrupt our politic. Democracy is not being threatened; it no longer exists. I’m crushed and despondent about the future of my country for me, my children, and grandchildren.
Mega Corps are truly grotesque. We need antitrust action against amazon, Walmart, et al. These companies and their billionaire backers have far too much power. Thanks Judd for pointing out always that every single corp is a soulless, faceless, bloodsucker with no morality. They are destroying democracy and causing more than 50% of inflation with their total market control-wish Dems other than Katie Porter would bang this drum more and legacy media would actually report on 70 yr high corp profits.
Amazon’s move is different from many of the others we’ve discussed. At least as I recall, many other company PACs that you’ve followed have given to funds (like RGA) that support multiple candidates as opposed to openly singling out individual candidates. Unless they’ve given equally to the other candidates in those races, this move is blatant support of these candidates’ positions. The question continues to be what we can do about it. Boycotting Amazon is a non-starter and everyone knows it.
Well, my Amazon account got hacked in September. More incentive to cut back on Amazon!
Love your reporting.