Does it make you sad that so many small towns are struggling? Do you get angry that online businesses don’t pay their share of property and sales taxes, and your taxes go up instead?
Then here’s a request. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that everything is cheaper and easier to buy on the internet.
An example: Does your favorite charity encourage you to buy from Amazon Smile? Amazon says it will donate a part of the profit on every purchase you make.
Don’t do it. It’s a bad deal. The amount they will give is one half of one percent. When you spend $1,000 -- remember, you send it out of town -- your charity gets only $5. So tell your United Way or other charity to stop promoting it.
Do the math! $1,000 going out of town and $5 back. And you have just joined millions of consumers helping Amazon kill off the very local businesses that make your hometown special. By the way, Amazon does not contribute even a miniscule proportion of what local business owners, your friends and neighbors, give to charity.
Does that seem fair to you? Not to me. Think Local First and Buy Local whenever you can. Then give directly, personally, to your favorite local causes.
Don’t be suckered by Amazon Smile. Because you do have a choice. If you care about the people you live and work with, make them smile because they live in a place that can count on your support.
I’m Rick Brooks and that’s my perspective.
