Amazon & Hachette

Regarding Amazon's latest shenanigans:

Large corporations are designed to be sociopathic. They must not only make money, but make MORE money every year to satisfy investors. If they do not, they will be killed. This is why I do not believe that money equals free speech—a corporation very rarely has the well-being of any human on its agenda. A corporation isn't human. Amazon is reacting to the desires of its shareholders in a very predictable fashion.

Some companies - those with conscientious management that kept control of their company when and if it went public - manage to walk the line between profits and the well-being of the employees, suppliers, and neighborhood that gives it business.

Most can't do that. Maybe the shareholders hold too much power, or maybe the CEO never cared in the first place. Maybe it was evil before it ever went public, and the company owners were only interested in getting the fastest profit possible.

A company might not be a person, but it is an organism. It kills its competitors and uses its allies in order to survive—and it will survive at any cost. The best are a pack of hunting wolves, keeping the economic ecosystem in balance (even if it means less “deer” to hunt). The worst are a fatal virus, burning their hosts into a husk before moving on.

I don’t like what Amazon is doing, but I’m not going to tell people that they should buy everywhere, because I try not to be a hypocrite. My book is for sale through Amazon, and I’d like it to do well.

As consumers, we should do our best to be informed, and shop our conscience. If you don’t like what Amazon is doing, find other sources that fill your needs. But there’s no need to be guilty if you find that the huge discount they offer means you keep coming back. I’d rather you buy your books through Amazon than not buy them at all.