this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2023
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[–] Squander 18 points 1 year ago (7 children)

I bet everyone shitting on amazon in the comments has a amazon package on thier doorstep right now lol.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't see how one invalidates the other. Amazon's predatory practices have killed off the competition and created a sizable price gap. Not everyone has the luxury of voting with their money.

[–] Synthead 6 points 1 year ago

I haven't noticed their prices being lower in most cases. Check eBay. It's usually about 10% cheaper.

They haven't killed competition. There are hundreds of other online places to buy stuff for most items, too.

[–] SasquatchBanana 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] Synthead 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree with the dude about the Apple products. I think the third and fourth panels are straw man arguments.

You can choose to dislike Apple's practices. However, if you know about their labor issues yet still buy their products, then their suffering is not important enough. You might have your reasons to get an iPhone, but no reason is going to ever nullify that you willingly understood the chain of responsibility, and elected to be a contributor to the problem.

This matters in the aspect of Apple devices because there are dozens of very reasonable hardware vendors and hundreds of phones to choose from, yet you purchased the one that you know has poor practices. It's like living in a rural area, and buying eggs from the guy that kicks their chickens. Then complaining about it while making dinner with them.

The seat belt is a straw man argument here because car manufacturers did not cause labor problems by not having a seat belt. It was simply because the safety of seat belts were not realized, yet. This has nothing to do with labor at all, and is a silly argument.

By pretending that old cars are like Apple phones, and claiming that the argument against old cars is silly, then complaining about Apple must be silly. However, complaining about Apple is valid, and has nothing to do with old cars. This is a textbook straw man fallacy.

Then, the strip goes to volume 11 with the straw man arguments on the fourth pane by comparing improving society with Apple's unfair labor. It assumes that you fell for the straw man fallacy about old cars, which primes you for this pane. With the rest of the strip, it implies that if you live in a society (which we all do), then you cannot complain about Apple's labor issues. Additionally, the quip about being "very intelligent" is sarcasm, and it's an ad hominem attack against the critical thinker: you.

You absolutely can complain about Apple's labor issues, and you can choose to not participate in it by funding their labor. Additionally, you can still be somewhat concerned about the labor issues, but not be concerned enough to buy from other vendors. This is arguably hypocritical, but pretending that you cannot do both or have other opinions presents another fallacy: the false dichotomy fallacy.

In other words, this comic sucks. If you fell for it, then you're simply human, and that's okay, but please be aware that these arguments are the cornerstones of propaganda. They're easy to fall for if you're not looking for them, and it will make you believe in things that you wouldn't ordinarily believe.

[–] littlewonder 7 points 1 year ago

Yes, but there's no ethical consumption under capitalism.

If Amazon is the only place you can get something, you rely on them because you can't leave the house, or it's the cheapest place and you don't have extra money to spend, you have to do what's best for you. Boycotting is a privilege.

That shouldn't mean those who can't boycott lose the ability to demand change.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

My household has not bought anything from them since before the pandemic. Unfortunately, this means relying on Walmart, which isn't much better, but at least they get toilet breaks.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago
[–] stevedidWHAT -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yeah because you can totally reasonably not participate in capitalism while living in a capitalist country who happens to be arguably the strongest super power in the world.

Take your pompous, self righteous ass the fuck out of here so the adults can work on solutions with each other through understanding and planning.

[–] Squander 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] stevedidWHAT 1 points 1 year ago

Nah I’m chillin, was laughing pretty hard tho earlier thanks m8