Ive never spent a penny on Amazon and I am able to get whatever I want other places. So, there are alternatives.
For books, I go with Barnes and Noble. Sometimes they don’t have what I’m looking for. What I dislike most is the monopoly Amazon has on small businesses. They can pull the plug on them any time, as they did with buying Whole Foods.
There are hundreds of alternatives. Walmart ranks near the top with customer service #1. I quit Amazon 2 years ago based solely on principles. Sometimes doing the right thing may have a price.
O’Sullivan’s First LawThat is one way to explain “Bias in the Media.” But if O'Sullivan's First Law is in fact true, it corresponds to saying that “you are either conservative, or you are liberal - the ‘middle’ is logically excluded.” At least in the long run.
An eternal truth.
By John O’Sullivan (EDITOR’S NOTE: This appeared in the October 27, 1989, issue of National Review.)Robert Michels — as any reader of James Burnham's finest book, The Machiavellians, knows was the author of the Iron Law of Oligarchy. This states that in any organization the permanent officials will gradually obtain such influence that its day-to-day program will increasingly reflect their interests rather than its own stated philosophy. To take a homely example, congressmen from egalitarian parties somehow end up voting for higher pay and generous expenses for congressmen . . .
O'Sullivan's First Law: All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing. I cite as supporting evidence the ACLU, the Ford Foundation, and the Episcopal Church. The reason is, of course, that people who staff such bodies tend to be the sort who don't like private profit, business, making money, the current organization of society, and, by extension, the Western world. At which point Michels's Iron Law of Oligarchy takes over — and the rest follows.
We post on FR, a conservative web site. I for one am not ashamed of taking on that designation, tho the word “conservative” is as much a misnomer for people who believe in progress “of, by, and for the American people” as the term “liberal” is for advocates of censorship and government control, or the word “progressive” is for people who prefer to believe in AGW. “Conservatives” are actually skeptics - skeptical both of government (knowing it is prone to excess and hubris, and to suppression of freedom) and of society (knowing that, without government, society would devolve into law of the jungle). “Liberals,” OTOH, are cynical about society and naive about government (which comes first is a chicken-or-egg proposition).
Given the existence of “bias in the media,” conservatives are perforce "philosophers” contending with sophists:
- sophist
- 1542, earlier sophister (c.1380), from L. sophista, sophistes, from Gk. sophistes, from sophizesthai "to become wise or learned," from sophos "wise, clever," of unknown origin. Gk. sophistes came to mean "one who gives intellectual instruction for pay," and, contrasted with "philosopher," it became a term of contempt. Ancient sophists were famous for their clever, specious arguments.
- philosopher
- O.E. philosophe, from L. philosophus, from Gk. philosophos "philosopher," lit. "lover of wisdom," from philos "loving" + sophos "wise, a sage."
"Pythagoras was the first who called himself philosophos, instead of sophos, 'wise man,' since this latter term was suggestive of immodesty." [Klein]
“Conservative” talk radio hosts have to take on all comers, and cannot simply arrogantly claim that anyone who disagrees is subhuman. “Liberals” claim that journalists are objective, even knowing that in fact “No news is good news” - because good news “isn’t news.” Put that way, journalists and other liberals are reduced to claiming that “negativity is objectivity” - a claim which could be the very definition of cynicism.
Start looking around, you can buy from many alternate sites.
I am so tired of FReepers ranting about leftists as they throw their money at them.
I want to tell them all to grow a pair and use some decent search engines and meta searches to find what you want. I recently found an amazon seller’s address and called and got what I wanted with a nice discount and free shipping.