Well Played, Amazon

        In the article entitled Better Add Extra Box of Printer Paper to Your Cart, Because Amazon Just Made It Harder to Get Free Shipping, written by Brad Tuttle, the new business strategy that Amazon is employing is described. I think it’s a very smart move that is being made. At first I thought, how stupid to increase the minimum price for free shipping, but once I read further I changed my mind.

        The thing that makes this a smart move is that by increasing the minimum price, customers could potentially be influenced to sign up for Amazon Prime, which costs $79 per year and gives you unlimited streaming access to 41,000 movies and TV shows as well as access to 350,000 books, and unlimited two-day free shipping. Sure there are many perks to signing up for Amazon Prime, but you have to pay an annual fee. However, like the article states, if people sign up for it then they will also feel as though they should get their money’s worth and will buy more items online, in turn giving Amazon an even bigger profit. So, this is kind of brilliant on their part. Whether the consumers are getting just as much from the deal depends on the individual. If the consumer doesn’t shop online very often then it shouldn’t be that big of a deal paying for shipping if they buy something that is less than $35 and don’t qualify for free shipping. If the consumer buys online all the time but rarely for less than $35 then it doesn’t make sense to get the membership. And if the consumer buys online a lot but usually for less than $25 then maybe it’s best to upgrade to Amazon Prime.

        Regardless of what the case is, Amazon is likely to come out the winner in this affair. Chances are that consumers will keep buying anyway, and might even upgrade. I think that this is honestly a very smart move on Amazon’s part. Even if consumers complain about the change, they will have to buy things online, and if they have used Amazon for a long time, they will most likely stick with it.  I know this is true because I went through something similar with the DART. The prices increased, and it was really annoying, but I had to ride it anyway. I had no other choice, and my options were to continue paying for the individual tickets or to buy a monthly pass. Either way, the DART still got money from me. 

Seriously Government, Get it Together!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two weeks then it is not news that the United States government is shut down. That is a whole other issue though, what Brad Tuttle talks about in his article Three Parts of the U.S. Being Hammered Economically by the Shutdown is how the shutdown has affected certain areas economically. 

The first place mentioned is Southern Utah. Utah is the home to many national parks and monuments, which happen to be funded by federal money. Due to the government shut down these parks and monuments have been closed and off-limits to tourists. For a state like Utah, who makes most of it’s money from tourists visiting these parks, this shutdown has been extremely inconvenient and problematic. 

The other two areas mentioned in the article are Fayetteville, North Carolina, a military town, and Greater Washington, D.C. I find this to be extremely infuriating. First of all, the reason the government shutdown was because people in Congress couldn’t come to an agreement and decided to be stubborn and immature. Thanks to their inability to settle affairs with maturity and levelheadedness, many citizens are suffering the consequences. This is extremely unfair and pathetic.

It’s no secret that other countries judge us constantly. It’s natural to compare your country to others and see what’s better and worse in which one. This shutdown is not making America look good. We always seem to become involved in affairs in other countries, acting like a big brother, trying to help out and bring peace and whatnot, but when our government can’t even come to an agreement on something so simple, that doesn’t speak well about us. No one is going to take a country seriously when they can’t even solve their own problems without throwing a tantrum.

I believe that this shutdown is embarrassing, unnecessary, but also incredibly unfair to the citizens of the United States. Most American work hard for most of their life and they actively contribute to society. So how is it fair that the government can’t even return the favor? It’s not fair for people to lose their source of income because the of the government’s incompetence. It’s not fair for people to be at their wits end simply because certain people are too selfish and stubborn to approve health care for everyone. It’s not fair for people to lose money because people in the government are so selfish and greedy. I may be an American citizen, but at the moment, that’s not something I take pride in. 

Paying Thousands to Watch A Ball Being Flung Around

Sports are universal. They are something that happen everywhere and that help unite people. In one way or another everyone ends up involved in sports at some point in their life. It can be as a player, a coach, a mascot, a cheerleader, someone who watches the games, and so on. The point being, sports are something everyone wants to be a part of. Now, everyone is aware that to participate in any way you have to pay. Whether it’s for uniforms or for tickets, chances are that you’re going to dish out some cash at some point. According to an article in Time.com written by Brad Tuttle, entitled ‘Freaking Ridiculous’ NFL Stadium Seat Fees Cost Thousands- But Fans Pay Up, sometimes the price can be quite high. 

It seems as though the new thing to do when it comes to charging sports fans, is something known as PSL’s, or personal seat licenses. These fees start from $10,000 and go up to $150,000. These fees don’t include tickets, they must be paid by anyone who wants to buy season tickets. So, you’re paying so that you can pay, basically. The crazy thing is, that as incredibly absurd as this sounds, people are still doing it. A Vikings fan was quoted as saying, “I’ve just been a part of the experience for too many years to let it go away, and sit at home and watch it.” To me that is just ridiculous. These fees don’t make sense, no matter what anyone says, but they exist because people are willing to pay them. I’m willing to bet that if fans refused to pay for them and stopped buying tickets for at least a season, there wouldn’t be any choice but to get rid of them. 

I can understand that sometimes it seems sacrilegious to break tradition. I can understand wanting to continue going to games because it’s just the way that things have been. And of course I can understand enjoying going to games and having that experience. However, I’m not sure that a tradition is worth $150,000 dollars, not including tickets themselves. It’s just not the way that things work. The world is changing and so I know that things will not cost the same as they did twenty years ago. But, that doesn’t mean that people should have to put up with an incredibly high increase in the prices of recreational activities. As the consumers we have the power to change things. We don’t have to just go with what is dictated and pay the amount that we’re told we have to. If we take a stand, the prices will change, because if we aren’t buying, who will?