A Modern Plague

It's probably not what you're thinking

When I say “plague”, you might think of COVID-19 or Ebola or HIV/AIDS. And yes, these diseases are awful and have caused a huge amount of death and devastation but I’m talking about something quite different today…

And it has to do with Amazon.

Not the rainforest, but the multinational tech giant.

As I write this, something called Amazon Prime Day is taking place in the US (I’m not sure if it’s a global “event” but it’s definitely happening in the US).

It’s an annual event on 16-17 July, and offers Amazon Prime members incredible deals on a variety of brands and products.

Last year, I was visiting my friend in the US right around the time of Prime Day, and it felt like a lot of the conversations in suburban USA revolved around this mega-shopping event.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Good, how about you?”

“Not too bad. Just making my list for Prime Day. What are you getting?”

“Probably a new couch/barbeque pit/playset for the kids/lawnmower/etc.”

“Yea, I have about 15 items I’m getting too. It’s gonna …