Big Amazon

I just read where Amazon's total revenue has gone up 46% and their net income 68%.  As usual, I can only say that yes, I've contributed my share, I've done my part, I continued to drink the Kool-Aid.  They can thank me by continuing to do things like sue North Carolina, who have sought records of state residents and what they've purchased, going back to 2003, for the purposes of trying to collect state tax.

If consumerism represents two thirds of our nation's economy, why do we constantly try to drag it down?  Why do we even listen to crapweaselly schemes like VAT taxes?  For that matter, why do we pay for parking, or penalize people for shopping some place?

(When I was a kid in Minneapolis, downtown was dead to anyone with a sense of smell.  They put up an upscale indoor mall called City Center, which created a lot of buzz but few customers (though they did keep the winos out).  Then they offered free parking in the nearby parking ramps and boom, a thriving marketplace was born.  It did so well, in fact, that other shops opened up and downtown retail became a destination shopping target.  Clearly, the time was right to exploit the situation and, um, charge for parking.  Downtown shopping was Tombstone, Arizona in a matter of months.  This was years ago; now they have sports stadiums downtown and all of the old buildings are gone.  If I were a wino I may be completely lost on Nicollet Mall or Hennepin Avenue, but that's another story...)