This OTYCD post originally ran in December 2018.
Do you have a local independent bookstore? Spend money there, early and often. And stop buying your books, or anything really, at Amazon until it pulls its ads from Breitbart and stops carrying Trump products.
Reading is good. Fundamental, even. If you are lucky enough to have an independent bookstore near you–aka not Barnes & Noble–go spend some money there as soon as you can, and make a plan to swing by on a regular basis. Also, follow your local indie bookstore on social media, attend its events, and bring your friends, too.
Independent bookstores were vulnerable before Amazon arrived (Barnes & Noble did much to kill them) and not much has changed. Please step up and support your nearest one with your dollars.
Giving indie bookstores your business is a social good in and of itself, no matter who’s running the country, but it takes on greater importance under the Trump administration.
Both #GrabYourWallet and Sleeping Giants have been targeting Amazon for months, because it sells Trump family products and because it has not moved to pull its ads from Breitbart. It has been deaf to all entreaties, even as Sleeping Giants closes in the milestone of convincing 2,000 advertisers to leave the stomach-turning alt-right web site and despite countless calls, emails, and letters from supporters of #GrabYourWallet (As of early April, Amazon ranks as number 5 on the site’s Top 10 list of retailers to boycott.)
Important: You should know that Amazon is a somewhat controversial choice to boycott because its owner, Jeff Bezos, also owns the Washington Post, which has been one of the best, most relentless newspapers covering the Trump administration. Also, the Amazon Prime service makes it cheap and easy to read the Washington Post by offering free access online for six months and then at $4.99 thereafter. For some, Bezos’s support of the Washington Post nullifies any sins that Amazon is perpetrating.
Boycotting Amazon is far more difficult than other retailers because it offers so much more than books. Fortunately, the #GrabYourWallet community is way ahead on this, with a whitelist of alternatives to look to.
Speaking of which–if you don’t have a local independent bookstore and want to stop giving money to Amazon, try these shops instead:
Powell’s
The Strand Bookstore
See #GrabYourWallet’s whitelist of retailers (bookstores included):
https://grabyourwallet.org/Shop%20These%20Companies.html
See #GrabYourWallet’s list of retailers to avoid (retailers who sell Trump-branded products):
See the Sleeping Giants list of advertisers who have dropped Breitbart:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i9o8CR_kjJ6mBd44k6CRZEhlXuZqq-XCCOoj-e8RJ7Q/edit
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