3 ms·

Boycotts don't work, simply put. http://freakonomics.com/podcast/do-boycotts-work-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/ http://freakonomics.com/podcast/do-boycotts

• ryao 10y ago
  Avoiding business transactions with those you dislike is a basic principle. It does not need to do anything other than allow you to say "at least I do not fund them". That said, my post suggested that people would be better off if they purchased elsewhere because it is often cheaper to buy elsewhere than it is to buy off Amazon. That is an economic reality and one that naturally lends itself to people buying from Amazon's competitors. The suggestion of a boycott was the furthest thing from my mind.
  • dimino 10y ago
    If there's an economic incentive, fine, but you're just shifting your stress to other drivers. Delivering packages still happens, do you think the other companies don't follow industry standards?
    • ryao 10y ago
      Amazon is the only one promising delivery within 2 hour windows. The others do no such thing.
      • deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      • dimino 10y ago
        Amazon provides a service to those who need things within a short amount of time. If you don't want to do that work, don't do it.
• Spooky23 10y ago
  The article doesn't support that conclusion -- typical for Freakinomics fare. A boycott is a powerful weapon in the context of a broader grassroots movement. We'll get there with Amazon soon -- they're too big to not step into a turd that generates sufficient discord.
  • dimino 10y ago
    They have literally half a dozen experts come on at various points in the podcast and explain that boycotts don't work, what do you mean "the article doesn't support that conclusion"?
• eli_gottlieb 10y ago
  Whether or not boycotts work, I just canceled my Prime membership.
  • dimino 10y ago
    ...and the world continued spinning.
• quadrangle 10y ago
  Why is it bad to create stress for drivers?? Is that a serious question? Anyway, I listened to that podcast myself a while back. The conclusion was that boycotts rarely work, and when they do, it's mostly a bar PR issue rather than an economic per-sale issue.
  • dimino 10y ago
    Yes, that's a serious question. Why is there a goal of "zero stress" in this situation? It's a job, won't it always have stress?
    • quadrangle 10y ago
      When people talk about stress, they don't usually mean just the normal healthy sort of pressure and motivation, although yes, that's technically "stress". You've dropped to a silly semantic game if you read the article about people having totally unrealistic expectations and working overtime without pay and think "what's wrong with stress?" as your main take-away.
      • dimino 10y ago
        It is a semantic point I'm making, though not a silly one.