The anti-sadness button

We need to consult some serious thinkers to realize how bad the Amazon Dash button is for our culture, the planet, and our souls. The New Yorker obliges, with an article titled "The horror of Amazon's New Dash Button."

That's right. HORROR.

Remember, this is about a device you stick in the cupboard so you can order detergent when you see you're running out. That's the author's dystopian nightmare of endless enforced shopping, like some St. Vitus' Twitch where you're constantly slamming little puffy pop-up buttons to have more ergot-infused muffins shot into your mouth.

Oh for corn's sake, as Leroy Gildersleeve used to say. I haven't read ahead, so I don't know if running out of things brings us face-to-face with Something and helps us Evaluate our habits or perhaps Consider our Impact, but I do know that if running out of something is called a Virtue we have redefined the term to mean absolutely nothing. Let's see:

I'ver never, ever asked myself if I want to continue using this brand of bag, because I have chosen it for specific reasons and intend to continue using it until a superior replacement comes along at a similar price. But since the unexamined life is not worth living, I should step in front of a bus.

It's up to you to decide whether this person stands paralyzed in the grocery store wondering about whether he wants the Hunts diced tomatoes or the other brand that's more expensive but may contain more ethical tomatoes, or whether he just believes other people should.

Ah, here's the rub:

There are already printers that reorder ink. So the nightmare is already upon us.

This article appeared in the New Yorker magazine, which of course does not offer subscriptions and does not show up in your mailbox every week and of course does not offer automatic renewal of your online membership. Right? I assume you have to go buy it, which will give you the opportunity to be one of the good people. The ones who know they should feel bad.