Most of the grassroot campaigns, if not all, are organized and financed by individuals and companies for their benefit or for political benefit. In the olden days, loyalty would organize a distant revolt so the king would be forced to march to a distant land. In the meantime, benefits will accumulate, either by making king poorer, distracting him, or by coup d'etat. Same thing here. I don't believe for a moment that any of the grassroot campaigns, either political or business, are spontaneous nowadays. Maybe 0.001% are, but that's it.
A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
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Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#22I'm surprised more cyberpunk authors didn't anticipate that wars between corporations wouldn't be fought using hackers or "street samurai", but with teams of propagandists competing to do a better job of bullshitting the general public.
Yes, I'm calling marketers and advertisers propagandists. As far as I'm concerned, marketing and advertising are nothing but private-sector psyops.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Don't be angry at Amazon (and the others) - campaign to change the law. You can do both. In many if not all cases the tax loopholes are a result of an amazon-like company lobbying politicians, they’re not innocently taking advantage of a neutral situation.
Doing both is a waste of time and mental energy, neither of which are infinite. Amazon will not change if the law doesn't. Pick your battles.
Boycotts, strikes, and pressure campaigns against companies have a long track record of working. It's hardly wasted effort.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#24I think the takeaway is companies should compete on ethics but be transparent about it. If corporations openly call out each other's malignant actions that's a huge win for us all in holding them to a higher standard. I don't believe the "poor Amazon" angle for a moment though. A lot of the "campaign" against Amazon takes place in EU courtrooms where no rival company is focusing our attention on their transgressions.…
A lot of the "campaign" against Amazon takes place in EU courtrooms where no rival company is focusing our attention on their transgressions.
It seems unlikely that competitors have no influence on what the EU chooses to pursue in courts.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#25Poor, Poor Amazon. Amazon is run by the richest person in the entire world who will come to the oligarch's aid? Amazon paid NO income taxes last year. I am against Amazon for that reason alone.
If you're not getting paid for this comment, you could be.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#26This is why I tend to try to keep a healthy skepticism about a great deal of the negative press on Amazon's warehouse working conditions, pushes to unionize, etc. So much of it lacks real context needed to actually inform, and just looks like click-bait or campaigns to drive negative sentiment, or to inhibit their ability to perform. And really, that should I guess be the default way one consume's news in general, no…
While skeptism is always healthy, a lot of the flack Amazon is getting seems pretty legit.
Competitors might be piling in it and pushing it under the spotlight、even exaggerate parts of it, but of lot of Amazon’s operations is still provably shitty.
For instance what part of the warehouse working condition do you think is completely fabricated ?
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#27I'm surprised more cyberpunk authors didn't anticipate that wars between corporations wouldn't be fought using hackers or "street samurai", but with teams of propagandists competing to do a better job of bullshitting the general public. Yes, I'm calling marketers and advertisers propagandists. As far as I'm concerned, marketing and advertising are nothing but private-sector psyops.
As a recovering marketer I take no offense to that statement. I started my exit from the field when I was working with a PR firm that was running a "behavior modification" campaign. Psyops presumably has regulations and oversight; marketing has nothing of the sort. Want to convince a billion people to drink an addictive chemical known to cause colon cancer? Classic.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#28Idk why they don’t just slam them on lead paint and fake products. You could make a fucking Super Bowl level ad and do serious damage to amazon on real issues.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#29Does Oracle really think they are competing with Amazon over a $10B government contract? That’s like Peugeot thinking they are competing with Volvo for a shipping fleet or something.
Re: A ‘Grass-Roots’ Campaign to Take Down Amazon Is Funded By Its Biggest Rivals
#30I'm surprised more cyberpunk authors didn't anticipate that wars between corporations wouldn't be fought using hackers or "street samurai", but with teams of propagandists competing to do a better job of bullshitting the general public. Yes, I'm calling marketers and advertisers propagandists. As far as I'm concerned, marketing and advertising are nothing but private-sector psyops.
Framed that way, it actually appears quite logical, because hacking and killing is illegal, whereas bullshitting is not, so it's the path of least resistance. Sueing is legal too, so propagandists and lawyers it is…