"Don't buy shit"

[Aviation Pro]

Context:

Amazon is cutting jobs in an efficiency drive and Walmart says its headcount will stay flat as artificial intelligence disrupts some roles.

Amazon and Walmart, the nation’s two largest private employers, swelled with hundreds of thousands of new workers in recent years as they battled for larger slices of consumer pocketbooks. Amazon said in 2021 that its workforce had grown to more than 1.6 million people and boasted of being “the largest job-creator in the U.S.” Walmart said last year that plans for 150 new stores would create new jobs across the United States.

So, the "smartest guys in the room" seem to have forgotten one little item. I and millions like me don't have to buy shit from their fucked up "store fronts."

Bet you didn't see that coming, you fucking morons.

[Lovie777]

1. The rate the economy is going.............

people will spend for necessity, even then many will struggle.

[marble falls]

3. I wonder when the effect of no agricultural workers is going to hit the groceries. I've refilled the pantry with ...

Last edited Sat Nov 1, 2025, 10:43 AM - Edit history (1)

... with rice, beans, pasta; dried, canned veg and fruit, dried milk, plenty of yeast and flour, canned tuna, chicken, mackerel, sardines.

I don't think our life will change much: our only debt is minor consumer. I've planned on feeding a couple older neighbors. We just bought two cars cash out, the mortgage a few years of payoff, our health and health care is good.

[bucolic_frolic]

27. Sardines will prove a good investment

They're all fished out, we import most of them, harvests are falling, prices are rising, and Europe and Asia want to keep them at home because they eat their own (sardines).

[marble falls]

35. I put the value of a can of sardines somewhere between "here, have one" and "touch it and we will go round". ...

... no one really knows how bad TACO's screwed the pooch yet, but I do believe it'll be more like the pandemic and lockdown than Mad Max. I live in Texas and I can see "citizen" committees trying to confiscate food caches at worst. We'll need to grit our teeth and lean into the strain.

[BlueWavePsych]

11. Halloween was utterly depressing this year.

[marble falls]

2. Our not buying is just part of the logarithm. We're on a list or two somewhere! Their arrogance about their greed ...

... and soul crushing work environments wasn't bad enough. The price of a pound of flesh? Working hourly in their warehouses.

[Submariner]

4. Except for toys and a tree for the kids

don't buy a damn thing for Black Friday or Xmas, and help crush the trump economy to make it that much harder for him to cheat and steal the election if we can make the maga base mad at him, or better, maybe a third republican shooter will emerge and finish this asshole.

Spoil Xmas for the retailers and billionaires.

[The Madcap]

5. Make a T***p Tree this year.

Go out in your back yard. Find a leafless twig. Staple a couple of cutout paper leaves. Root it in an old flower pot. Now you have a T***p Tree. All for free.

Kinda like in Charlie Brown Christmas, but more austere.

[markodochartaigh]

29. In

Texas some people would use tumbleweeds. They come in all sizes, the larger ones are often six feet tall.

[gab13by13]

6. Nope, not spending should have happened the day Walmart came to town,

Greedy corporatists are going to always greed.

I warned my friends not to shop at Walmart that it would kill the small stores, but they didn't listen, they wanted those 10 dollar blue jeans and shirts. I have maybe been in Walmart 5 times because I live in a rural town and had nowhere else to go.

The end result of crony capitalism is monopolies. If no one had shopped at Walmart way back, we would have more people employed today.

People are going to buy from Amazon because they can make an order and have it delivered to them the next day. I just needed a bulb for my clothes dryer, I called my only local appliance store and gave the nice lady the GE part number which was less that the Speed Queen price and she ordered it for me and got it for me in 2 days at a cheaper price because I didn't pay shipping. Now my local appliance store is ordering the cheaper GE bulbs that work just fine.

I buy all of my appliances from my local in town store, I don't go to Lowes. I used to buy my Red Wing work boots from my local country store. Do I pay more because I shop local, yes I do but it keeps those small stores in business.

Don't just blame the corporate hogs, Americans wanted those Chinese products.

[llmart]

17. "Don't just blame the corporate hogs, Americans wanted those Chinese products."

This is the real truth we need to remember. It's not solely the corporations' fault. In fact, I lay the blame mostly on gullible consumers. Americans are very short sighted in general and do not think of the long term/long reaching affects of their decisions.

[markodochartaigh]

30. I certainly agree that the US citizen, I mean consumer,

is very short-sighted. However in many areas it was the corporations who cut first. When corporations pay minimum wage, or less counting work time which is off the clock, people have to count every penny.

[Lovie777]

7. For my neighborhood last night "Halloween" is any indication...............

wherein it was basically dead compared to years of hundreds of Halloween participation of all ages, houses giving candy and partying in the streets, this holiday season is going to suck.

[kimbutgar]

13. My street had basically 3 groups of kids

Closed up at 8 pm. Still have candy to get in trouble with!

[leftstreet]

18. Average age of homebuyers is 56

More and more kids live in apartments

[tavernier]

19. Actually, my family has a haunted cemetery maze

in the back yard. The high school teachers work six weeks setting it up and being the costumed monsters on Halloween night. We take donations for the senior scholarship fund. Our street was like the county fair last night and we made $1600 for the kids. The teachers love frightening the bejeezus out of the kiddies and the kiddies love seeing their teachers dressed like a crazed butcher or a demented clown or mad scientist. The neighbors love it and all pitch in with help and candy and donated decorations. The police swing through once or twice and always stop and tell us how awesome and professional the makeshift cemetery looks, especially with the fog machine making the lights look very ghostly.

Sorry you didn’t have a fun night. That is what the holiday is about. And not one Trump mask in the bunch. I think people are getting really really sick of politics. They want their normal country back.

[themaguffin]

24. yeah it was strangely quiet compared to recent years.

[Tetrachloride]

8. In groceries, Aldi's has what I need.

[dutch777]

9. That coupled with a general strike is the way to go. Send a shock and keep it going.

[Farmer-Rick]

10. Welcome to the service economy

We gave away our manufacturing jobs for these lousy jobs that can be taken away with a blink of Bezos' or a Walton's eye. This is the wonderful service economy we got after the "free" traders like Milton Friedman, were done destroying us. And he got a Nobel prize for it.

Why do we let such awful people control so much of our national wealth? Because Capitalism.

Pedo Trump is just finishing off what Ronnie Reagan and Greenspan started. Did you know Ayn Rand was a good buddy of Greenspan's. Yeah, now you know their stupid ideas were more stupid than you thought.

Free trade and Libertarianism are just another scam.

[Joinfortmill]

12. Yup. They're too big. Try to find an alternative.

And, if you can't because there is no alternative for you for whatever reason, don't beat yourself up, just buy only what you need.

[llmart]

15. I did a quick inventory of if or what I bought from Amazon this year.

I never really got into the whole Amazon Prime or fad of buying on there, but I have bought from them occasionally. This year I perused my buying records and am proud to say that the only thing I ordered from them were the kind of vacuum cleaner bags that I can't find anywhere else. I have an old model vacuum and it works just fine.

I refuse to support that sort of model of business.

[Joinfortmill]

21. I wish I was that good, but Bezos is a Beast and I am cutting out every damn thing I can.

[llmart]

23. There is so much that we really don't need to live a good, decent life.

It's also so satisfying to just learn to be content with what you do have. So many Americans go through their lives with blinders on and fall for all the ads they see. I've never been one to follow the crowd (both parents instilled that in their children), so I always like to be the different one. I started reading about conscious consumerism when I was in my 40's and then read everything I could get my hands on. I was inspired by the people who had adopted that way of life. I read "The Millionaire Next Door" and that was an eye opening book.

No one advocates living like an ascetic - just be aware of what you're contributing to when you buy plastic crap you don't need such as the little children working in sweatshops in China.

[Joinfortmill]

25. I hear you.

[csusan]

16. Thank you for saying this

I'm 73 years old and need to be careful with my money. I hate using Amazon and Walmart but sometimes I need to so I can save money. Also having items delivered means I don't have to use my 22 year old car as much. I now shop at foodlion instead of Publix or harris teeter. Costco is the one luxury I allow myself. Sometimes there just isn't a choice. I've looked for alternatives but none work for me. So thank you for your comment it means a lot to know someone appreciates the struggle some of us have.

[Joinfortmill]

22. I'm with you, take care.

[oldinmtdem92]

14. i agree

not a dollar for the too rich to care. eat the fucking bastards!

[bucolic_frolic]

28. Too Rich to Care

Hey, THAT is memorable!!!

[Delmette2.0]

20. I have done every thing i can to avoid Walmart.

We lost a grocery store last year thanks to Safeway and Albertsons.
I cannot find dish cloths that are not terri cloth. When I was young I learned embroidery on flour sacks. Those became our dish towels.
I cannot find wooden spoons to replace my son's black plastic.
I don't like buying on line. Some things have to be touched and held to know if it is right for you.

[Joinfortmill]

26. True.

[JustAnotherGen]

31. I haven't been in or bought

Anything from WalMart or Target this year. I'm never going back.

[Ritabert]

32. I don't buy anything from Amazon

....and am not buying anything I can live without. Food and occasional gas is it.

[hunter]

33. Send what money you might have spent to a food bank.

Don't let your neighbors go hungry.

Save or invest your money carefully. You're not going to hurt the oligarchs by placing the money you don't spend in their care.

Reflect on your work. Is your work making the world a better place? If not, why not? Is there anything you can change about that?

[BigmanPigman]

34. I already told my family I will NOT get them

anything from Amazon for Xmas since Bezos has $ 254.3 billion and he isn't getting a cent out of me, ever!