Eso Bezos

I will be among those observing the one-week boycott of Amazon, a boycott which began yesterday and continues until March 14th. The only Amazons I intend to support during this time are Wonder Woman and her sisters-in-arms.

How much good will it do? Possibly none. But even a symbolic action is at least slightly better than no action at all. The timing further compromises the effectiveness of my boycott: I'm an Amazon Prime member, my membership is already paid for the year, and I haven't reached a decision about canceling it outright.

Yep--pretty namby-pamby boycott, I realize. I've been trying to think of alternatives to Amazon, and maybe I will terminate my membership next year. But I'm not quite there just yet.

I do use Amazon for things I've had difficulty purchasing locally, but I will continue to investigate alternative methods. The only books I buy from Amazon are specific used books, and I don't buy those all that often. For new books, I buy comics-related titles from Comix Zone in North Syracuse and nearly everything else from Parthenon Books. For CDs, I favor buying directly from the artist or from Bandcamp, but I often wind up at Amazon for music not easily obtained through my preferred means. For new CDs, I should start placing more special orders through a local vendor; I've been lazy about that, and I need to do better. Used CDs are tougher, but perhaps not impossible.

Digital downloads are another matter. I have Apple Music, but I like to own tracks rather than just streaming them. QUESTION: For mp3 tracks not available through Bandcamp, is there a viable legal (and less socially oppressive) alternative to Apple and Amazon? If so, I'd love to hear about it. I rarely go a week without buying at least one digital track from Amazon, but I'm more than willing to make those purchases from another resource instead.

I've been watching Pop Culture Jeopardy! on Prime Video. I won't miss it for a week. Maybe I'll find I can do without it entirely. Symbolic gesture. But it goes well with the single-finger gesture I offer to the odious forces that brought us to this point in the first place.