Amazon is Babylon

One may glimpse the future of Babylon by looking at Amazon. Toward Amazon every business model will ultimately flow. "Amazonians" (current Amazon employees) are perceived by the business as but organic cogs -- not unlike the machines they now employ so efficiently -- to be used up and spit out. The "purposeful Darwinism" of Amazonian culture and the personality traits it fosters and rewards actually appeal to me. They describe me.

For I am (still) in Babylon. And Babylon is in me.

The Amazonian culture promoted by Jeff Bezos is, essentially, a high-tech sweatshop now enriching him and those who (for the time being) share his ruthless quest for "success". (Bezos is the 5th richest man on earth.) There is no question that his "formula" works, but that it also de-humanizes human capital.

And why shouldn't it? The farmer who hires transient labor to pick his crops isn't interested in the personal lives of those who perform this service for him. He only wants his fruit picked in the most efficient, cost-effective manner. He would employ a machine if it could do the job better.
It is imagined we are all replaceable by machines in the ultimate "material world".

At the end of the day -- in blood, sweat and tears -- every Amazonian must worship at the altar of Baal...er, Bezos...or be pushed out.

This is the future of Babylon. 

Invasive, all-surveilling technology will allow every business and organization to do what Bezos does. Every Babylonian enterprise will become a cut-throat culture, aimed at the bottom line, devoted to gaining market share, increasing profit and pleasing its customer base at all costs, including the health and well-being of its employees. 

The Chinese now toil with this mindset: to sacrifice self for the good of the collective.

This is the Babylonian model: the servant is to be sacrificed to serve an impersonal master. 

It is a culture starkly devoid of charity.

The Christian model, on the other hand, turns Babylon on its head: the master is to be sacrificed for the servant!

This human experiment is designed to prove (to each of us) which model is most successful. It enables us to chose whom we will have to be our god.

UPDATE: Jeff Bezos had this to say about the NYT's piece.

Sexual slavery

Women and girls kidnapped or captured by ISIS are being sold into sexual slavery. Those cursed with beauty, green or blue eyes, or good teeth apparently fetch the highest prices. A 40-50 year old goes for as little as $43; a child, $172. After these females are repeatedly raped, by as many as six different men for as long as they remain alive (or in captivity), they are sold back to their families (if they'll still have them) for thousands of dollars in ransom. 

Females who refuse to “cooperate” with this “divinely-sanctioned” practice are summarily executed.

This reminds me of two scriptures. First:

 9 And notwithstanding this great abomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after depriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is chastity and virtue—
 10 And after they had done this thing, they did murder them in a most cruel manner, torturing their bodies even unto death; and after they have done this, they devour their flesh like unto wild beasts, because of the hardness of their hearts; and they do it for a token of bravery. (Mormon 9:9-10)

The second is this:

12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole. (Alma 46:12).

Captain Moroni and his people fought to protect their wives and children from the enemy. Though I might willingly submit myself to be slain rather than take up the sword against my neighbor, I am inclined to fight to the last breath, if necessary, to prevent murderous, morally depraved sexual adolescents from taking my wife or daughters as a “prize”.

The fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters now escaping from the clutches of ISIS with their lives (if not their dignity) will hate ISIS with an eternal hatred.

The world is being prepped for burning.