If I've inspired just one more person to rethink buying stuff from Amazon, then I have fulfilled my purpose in life! (kidding) (mostly) - one point I forgot to make in this piece - I'm not opposed to shopping online or to commerce in general - I mean, we need stuff. I think concious consumerism is important though and Amazon is an impulse-buying machine. Also, these days it's much easier to bypass Amazon than it used to be. Even small local stores have ecommerce websites and there are alternatives like Thredup (for clothes) and Bookshop.org which lets you buy books online an attribute the sale to a local bookshop of your choice.