Democracy Works20 Sep 2021

How Amazon is disrupting democracy

As we've said many times on this show, democracy is long and slow, which is the exact opposite of the ethos that Amazon has pushed into our culture through quick shipping, easily accessible entertainment, its takeover of cloud computing, and more.

Amazon's expansion across America, from distribution facilities to data centers, is exacerbating regional inequities and contributing to the unraveling of America's social fabric. Not only that, cities competing for Amazon's new facilities offer tax breaks that prevent funding from going to basic government services. And, the company's takeover of government procurement has taken lucrative contracts away from local businesses.

Alec MacGillis, a senior reporter at ProPublica, chronicles these trends in new book Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America. The book chronicles how Amazon contributed to the gap between the country’s winning and losing regions, and how its workplace practices foster isolation and competition, rather than camaraderie and shared goals.

Was Amazon deliberately trying to undermine democracy? Or using the existing system to its benefit? We talk with MacGillis about founder Jeff Bezos's political philosophy and how it's impacted the company's decision-making over the years. We also discuss what we as democratic citizens can do to push back against some of these forces.

Additional Information

Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America

Alec MacGillis on Twitter

Alec's website

Related Episodes

Can corporations be democratic citizens?

Reimagining citizenship in a consumer world

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(334)

How identity fuels political divides

From Brexit to the 2020 election, the United States and the United Kingdom seem more divided than ever as media, political polarization, and other factors combine to form what Mitchell Smith describes...

5 Okt 41min

Who pays for American democracy?

Our guest this week argues that you can't talk about the history of democracy in America without talking about the history of taxation in America. After listening to this interview, we agree and we th...

21 Sep 52min

Political status and the DSA summer

While we were away over the summer, it was hard to miss stories about Democratic primary elections and seeming rise of the Democratic Socialists of America — followed almost immediately about the chal...

31 Aug 48min

How to create social change that sticks

Changing the world is difficult. One reason is that the most important problems, like climate change and democracy reform are structural. They are larger than any one person can solve on their own, ye...

18 Maj 38min

Talk Nerdy: Black Evidence with Candis Watts Smith

Democracy Works host Candis Watts Smith joins Cara Santa Maria on the Talk Nerdy podcast to discuss her new book, Black Evidence: A History and a Warning. From Reconstruction to Redemption, from the e...

4 Maj 1h 4min

When politics enters the doctor's office

From the COVID-19 pandemic to debates over vaccines and the Make America Healthy Again movement, politics and medicine are intertwined in ways not seen in previous generations. When politics enters th...

20 Apr 31min

The Declaration of Independence and democracy renovation

Danielle Allen's work straddles the line between past and present. On one hand, she's on the road this year talking about America's 250th anniversary in the context of her book on the Declaration of I...

6 Apr 46min

Janet Napolitano on higher education and democracy

What is the role of higher education in a democracy? To what extent should American universities respond to the demands of those in power? Are we meeting this moment? As a former governor, cabinet sec...

16 Mars 34min