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143 reviews for:
Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America
Alec MacGillis, Stefan Alexander MacGillis
3.9 AVERAGE
143 reviews for:
Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America
Alec MacGillis, Stefan Alexander MacGillis
3.9 AVERAGE
3.5 stars, rounded up. If you need a kick in the pants to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription, this is it. This book details Amazon's relentless tax avoidance, abuse of its warehouse and delivery workers and contractors, and conniving destruction of small businesses. But perhaps more importantly, it describes the widening "regional inequality" of our country--the expanding gap between the large cities on the coasts, flush with money and education and the mid-size and small cities everywhere else that once had a chance at regional prosperity. And it paints devastating portraits of lives affected by Amazon, those of the warehouse employees, small business owners, property owners, activists, and small-town politicians. I think this book will only appeal to people already disposed to hating Amazon, and many of Amazon's cruelties have been, but I learned more than I expected.
The protagonist here is Amazon, sort of, and a cast of smaller characters introduced here and there with mixed relevance. The narrative appears to jump around in location and time. I found this hard to follow and am not sure if it accomplishes its mission, which appears to be a mix of an expose regarding inequality in America, corporate power, and the exploitation of workers.
I gave this three stars not because the content wasn't excellent, but because its scope is almost too wide. What I initially thought would be a book about Amazon was much more; it delves into the history of labor practices and more through the lens of many individual stories. The challenge is keeping track of them, especially on audio book (which is how I read this). The book is clearly well researched and deserving of its rewards. It is eye-opening look at the divide in this country between the "haves" and "have nots." It's just a bit too long. I wonder if it could have been told differently. I think it would make a great podcast series!
informative
informative
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Provides a broader context around Amazon's - and to a lesser extent, big tech in general - rise with a lot of history of industrial America. Explains exactly how instead of spreading the wealth, hyper prosperity concentrates in areas while the rest of the country gets poorer and poorer. It has enough factual citations to hold up while also providing a very personal look at the individuals impacted by Amazon.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use
informative
fast-paced
Well-argued and researched. Brilliant framing for an economic treatise on the hyper-concentration of wealth in America. Even 4 years after publication, still very much worth the read. Eye-opening about just how wide the gap between haves and have-nots in America has become, and the forces which have shaped that trajectory.
informative
slow-paced
Near the end of the book, there’s a poignant scene of row houses in Baltimore being demolished, a neighborhood on the downward swing of its trajectory. Their bricks are salvaged, cleaned up, and make their way into new faux-historic condo units near the new Amazon 2 headquarters in Northern Virginia, hitting the market for $700,000. These communities are not that far away from each other, but they’re going in opposite directions, and this book does a pretty good job of explaining why.
I’m glad I made it through the plodding first couple of chapters - some the stories of people are overly detailed and indulgent. But the many tentacles of Amazon pop up through the story, both changing America and showing how America has changed over the past 15 years. It’s incredible how fast this change has been right before our eyes. Workers moving from well-paid industrial union jobs to low-paid high-turnover work in Amazon distribution centers. A small family-run office supply business in El Paso begins to lose school district contracts as Amazon takes over and they’re forced to sell their wares through the Amazon marketplace. Data centers pop up in farmland, with sweetheart deals with the power utilities and local governments. The Amazon 2 “search” for a second headquarters ends up boosting a metro area already far ahead of others.
I’m sure I’ll continue using Amazon in many ways - the convenience is hard to ignore when looking for something that could take hours of searching in local stores. And the ripple effects of Amazon are not all bad. But I’ll be looking for ways to reduce my reliance on Amazon where I can.
I’m glad I made it through the plodding first couple of chapters - some the stories of people are overly detailed and indulgent. But the many tentacles of Amazon pop up through the story, both changing America and showing how America has changed over the past 15 years. It’s incredible how fast this change has been right before our eyes. Workers moving from well-paid industrial union jobs to low-paid high-turnover work in Amazon distribution centers. A small family-run office supply business in El Paso begins to lose school district contracts as Amazon takes over and they’re forced to sell their wares through the Amazon marketplace. Data centers pop up in farmland, with sweetheart deals with the power utilities and local governments. The Amazon 2 “search” for a second headquarters ends up boosting a metro area already far ahead of others.
I’m sure I’ll continue using Amazon in many ways - the convenience is hard to ignore when looking for something that could take hours of searching in local stores. And the ripple effects of Amazon are not all bad. But I’ll be looking for ways to reduce my reliance on Amazon where I can.
Really good. I especially liked how much MacGillis contrasts Baltimore and DC. I do wish he had looked more at what can be done about Amazon and the winner take all economy. I also think he really didn't give Kshama Sawant enough credit for taking on Amazon in Seattle. At one point he seemed to even blame her for giving Amazon an easy target by being Indian, which was not cool.