Amazon Prime is a remarkable success but also dystopian. It has made convenience and speed the norm, habituating consumers to buy more products. Prime’s flywheel effect - where more customers lead to more data and scale which attracts more customers - has fueled Amazon’s dominance. Prime subscribers spend twice as much and Amazon’s value has multiplied 97 times since 2005. While canceling Prime may not hurt Amazon, it can benefit local businesses by gaining a new customer. However, Prime has rewired how people think about what is possible to obtain and how fast, making a Prime-free life unimaginable for many.

  • Because that would be more work than I want to do, or maybe more work than I have energy for. I’m not defending Amazon but there are more concerning things in my life than always fighting the good fight for or with other people. This is just one of those areas I chose to make a small moral sacrifice to relieve a substantial physical burden.