I guess I'll just crawl back under my rock. I'm definitely not advocating communism, and consider myself conservative, but conservatism in the UK is slightly different in the UK as opposed to the US. Also, when I discussed the impact on the b-t-b job market, I wasn't just thinking of Amazon, but of business practices in general. L.E. Modesitt, who is also of the conservative Republican persuasion, has a good article on the impact of job losses:
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2014/09/...onal/#comments.
Again, I am not advocating the idea that everyone is earned a living, just that people need to consider the impacts of various decisions and actions taken in the world of business that can affect employees. What I object to is not making people redundant, but doing so in a way that makes them "widgets", and therefore less than human. Again, read the article for a more elegant and succinct argument. I will say that Amazon has definitely encouraged innovation, by ploughing profits back into R&D, thereby standing out as one of the few companies not ruled by shareholders looking for ever greater quarterly profits. This has obviously benefitted the customers, but at what cost? On a closing note, being concerned for other people's welfare doesn't strike me as communist behaviour, but as basic human decency. I am not advocating communism but responsible capitalism. Here are some other articles to consider:
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2014/07/...next-casualty/
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2014/05/16/business/
http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2014/03/25/profit/