disturbing

[incandescens]

Saw this link on veleda_k's lj, and it does make me worry about the ethics of my online ordering:

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/mac-mcclelland-free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor

Comments

[liralen.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. That is pretty brutal. Whew.

[incandescens]

Given how often I use Amazon, I'm now wincing a bit, because I never thought about that side of it.

[joasakura.livejournal.com]

wow. that's.. something I never even considered.

Hurm. :(

[incandescens]

Yes, exactly. I'd just never thought about it before. :P

[bryant]

The timing is interesting; Amazon bought a robot company to automate a lot of that work about a month later, as per this article. It'll hurt employment, though. Sigh.

[incandescens]

Interesting. While I don't want employment hurt, equally the conditions described in that article aren't good...

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

There's a ton of injuries in that field too. I can give you a link later if you want.

[incandescens]

I'd rather not, but thank you anyhow. :)

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, warehouse work can be brutal no matter who's paying the bills, unless you're at the high end of things (medical work, etc). And for material goods, you pretty much need a warehouse somewhere, whether it's the supplier for Amazon or for the manufacturer who stocks your local market.

[incandescens]

This is true. It's just... well, I look back at the number of times I've ordered from Amazon, and wonder, "Did I contribute to this?"