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Labor Day at Amazon
September 7, 2015
The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.
-Maria Montessori

I know some readers are not happy when ExchangeEveryDay strays too far from early childhood issues, but sometimes I just can't help it.  Today for example, I urge you to read the blog, "Amazon's Biggest Challenge," of my friend John Graham of the Giraffe Heroes Project.  He is responding to a New York Times article suggesting Amazon succeeds by pressuring its employees to work 60-hour weeks.  In part he notes:

"I'm no wide-eyed lefty.  I understand and appreciate the for-profit model.  And I have to say that Amazon's innovations have made my life easier and more pleasurable.  It's seductively wonderful to hit One Click and get the goods in hours.  But there are costs beyond what appears on our credit card bills, especially if/when Amazon's supercharged, single-focus model becomes the norm for our work environments.  It's about lost opportunities — for workers, for companies, and for the world....

"At 73, I know that there's nothing more important than that our lives be meaningful — that what we do and how we do it be in sync with the priorities at the core of our beings.  Probe deeply enough and most of us find that kind of satisfaction in giving back — in making life better for other people, in helping solve significant public problems.  We know we're not just workers (and not just consumers).  We're citizens and social beings, responsible not just for making and buying stuff, but for the broader welfare of the communities, nations, and planet where we live.

"The current Amazon model makes all this much more difficult.  It doesn't have to.  Corporations like Amazon can have it all — if they widen their focus and learn to think Big.  Really big.  Why can't Amazon offer some of its passionate and energetic employees the chance — at the company's expense — to apply their imagination, skills, and hard work in a few new Amazon subsidiaries dedicated to revolutionizing farm-to-market systems in the developing world, cutting the costs of alternative energy sources by half, or creating a viable global system for taking care of war refugees?

"Yes, doing anything like this would cost Amazon some money.  So let them charge us a little more for our lawnmowers and coffee filters, or get stuff to us a few hours later.  I'd be more than willing to pay more to be a partner in their good work and in setting a fine example for how American corporations can do business.  If Amazon did that, they'd have my business forever.  They'd also build the trust, morale, and allegiance of their own workforce, which would stabilize — fewer burnouts and less turnover.  And I'd still get my lawnmower in time."





We must discover our place
in the natural world. Together.

Teaching Four Year OldsJoin author Ann Pelo on her year-long journey as she nurtures the ecological identity of a toddler and discovers for herself what it means to live in relationship with the natural world...

  • delighting in discovery
    and adventure
  • developing dispositions
    and skills for being in
    the out-of-doors
  • learning when to speak and when to be still
  • knowing joy, grief, reverence, astonishment,
    and gladness
  • embracing the comradeship of fellow explorers

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Comments (5)

Displaying All 5 Comments
Lourdes G. · September 14, 2015
Lancaster, CA, United States


I enjoyed this information.

Rebecca Tracy · September 07, 2015
Berkeley, CA, United States


I appreciate your response to the AMAZON article and the sharing of JohnGraham's comments. This is totally congruent with our focus on teaching and practicing ethical behavior

Dale Wares · September 07, 2015
Norman, OK, United States


My book club read "The Circle" this summer, and I figured it was loosely based on one of the tech giants. After reading the New York Times article on Amazon I'm convinced the book was rather closely based on the Amazon model. While reading the novel I thought to myself, "Is it possible people would really give up so much of their privacy and personal freedom to comply with an employer's expectations?" Apparently so. When a company pursues corporate profits by maximizing exploitation of human capital, I think we all lose. I hope this is not the direction the business world ultimately pursues. As a social worker I'm much more interested in the well-being of the individual worker, and I believe that businesses can balance profit against worker well-being so that both experience success.
If that is not to be, then I'm grateful to be a retired state bureaucrat drawing my government pension and sniping from the sidelines.

Pepper Robinson · September 07, 2015
Five Towns Early Learning Center
Oceanside, NY, United States


I, for one, love when you deviate and bring other important news/opinions/ideas to Exchange Everyday. It broadens my knowledge, makes me think.Thanks.

Beth Engelhardt · September 07, 2015
Dayton, Ohio, United States


I for one enjoy ever posting you share whether it is about early childhood. If we are not open to learning and growing outside our specialized area we miss opportunities to think outside the box and stretch. Thank you for sharing all that you do.
Beth

I saw this and thought I would share it with you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qz7dysrSFw



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