The song 16 tons was about the life of a coal miner working super hard (loading 16 tons) and risking his life to get paid. Since coal mines were remote, the mining company would have a company store to sell basic necessities. So the company would get the money paid to the coal miner back through the company store. Mr. Stotch working super hard at Amazon fulfillment center and then buying his goods from Amazon draws such a great comparison to the coal miner's lifestyle. Very well crafted Matt Stone and Trey Parker!
except you also forgot to mention the company store would be priced such that no matter how you tried to scrimp and save, you were ALWAYS in debt to the store, even if you made your "16 tons" quota.
@@hengineer that's why the company store extend you credit if you didn't have the funds. Another version of this is payday advances. A perpetual cycle of debt/credit and you enslaved
@@juliosalazar6558 like how bezos takes away 100% profit by tax avoidance that would normally be considered tax evasion if he didn’t pay lobbyists? Like that?
At 2:04 he’s actually doing a job called line straightening which means you just stand there and straighten the boxes on the conveyor if they need to be straightening and fix the label machine if it goes down or need printer paper but 95% of the time you just stand there and do literally nothing but watch the boxes come down the conveyor.
@@iHaveTheDocuments I worked in this warehouse that made those cookies that have sprinkles on them, and first day of the job was completely horrible. My job was literally grabbing a handful of cookies from a conveyor belt and placing them into a small plastic carton, then after like 30 minutes (which was how long a lunch was) i would move up a spot and continue to do the same thing. I quit the same day and got a job at Walmart that pays $17 (the same amount from that warehouse job) and honestly I’m better off here than that other job.
It’s funny on a level a lot of younger viewers may not completely understand, when that song was written it was referring to coal miners who were paid with a form of currency that could only be spent in the stores owned by the company who also employed them, “company stores” like the song says. Now with Amazon, of our own accord we do something similar.
Well amazon employees can spend their paycheque anywhere. And even get a discount on the normal things they buy if they buy them through amazon. Seems pretty sweet, am sure the coal workers would agree.
Also the fact that the items would be priced so highly that most of the workers were in dept and had to work in the mine to pay it off, but they never could because of how much they got paid. They where practically legel slaves
This is the most genius four minutes of affecting social commentary included in a comedy show since Norman Lear’s socially-conscious sit-coms of the early 1970’s.
@@rockinbro1559 I personally buy most things I can from locally owned stores that I like. I don't buy groceries online, I don't buy parts online, hell, few of my PC parts were purchased online. Unfortunately the amount of brick and mortar stores have decreased since the 10s but I do at least some part in trying to keep them open.
this scene is iconic, it's nuts how this song stills holds up lyrically-- the working class being screwed over as usual my wife worked at an amazon fulfillment center for a while and she said it was damn near dystopian. she blew out her knee on the clock once and got absolutely no help...glad she got outta there, but man do i feel awful for the people still working for this monster of a company
Sure bud. This is so stupid. Amazon employees do not have it worse than COAL MINERS. You aren’t forced into perpetual debt by Amazon, the conditions in the warehouses are incredibly safe, the pay is actually livable, and the benefits are good. Your made up “wife” and your made up story are stupid.
Such is the reality of existence itself. In this world pain and struggle are the only thing’s truly guaranteed. Best you can hope for is shit gets a little better every generation without the next being softer than the last
@@carsoncasmirri3874 sometimes though i think the softer generation is better - for example my dad worked in a mine in Wales, he worked hard, was treated shit and got crap pay, however a current generation kid would never let that happen to themselves they would either quit, get a union involved or protest instead of muscling through it
The other option is to educate yourself so you aren't a box handler. In America you can own the company store. But not for much longer if the Democrats have their way.
@@Darksaviour You are one of those uneducated Leftist box handlers that screeches for higher wages while not doing anything to educate themselves. Amiright? 🤣
It’s funny because people don’t realize how accurate this is. Amazon warehouses are BRUTAL, and the workers there receive almost no breaks, very small periods for lunch, and very few days off. In fact, a lot of small towns that Amazon moves into actually become company towns, which is ironically what the song of about. They move in, they soak up a lot of jobs, and eventually push competition out of the area. The only ones that can really compete are ones that don’t actively TRY to compete, and instead operate in different or exclusive industries, and even then their business is often hurt by Amazon just being in that town. It’s sad, really.
Nah I work at amazon it's a fine job alot easier physically than many other jobs I've had pay is fair benefits are good they treat you with respect it's a great job
@@pikslap1185 Relax yourselves. I also work at Amazon, and it's just about the best that an entry level job can get. They're paying double minimum wage and giving a $3000 sign on bonus.
@@libertyprime619 yes the company that pays above average wages for people to move packages is the exact same as a coal company literally working people to death for money that they can't even use. There are similarities that I think South Park points out well, but they are not the same.
Oh yes. So incredibly sad that he spends his money at the world's largest store that has anything and everything for lower prices than brick and mortar stores. Also sad that he gets all their services for free and a discount on everything he buys. So sad that he has a disposable income. So sad that he works in a government regulated facility with all the latest technology, assistive equipment, safety protocols, and worker rights. Dude please: shut up. Go back to playing videogames in your mom's basement or grow a pair.
WindTheBrave I work at amazon, it’s fine, you get a decent wage and plenty of hours... I don’t shop at amazon.. last week I earned £945 for picking and stowing... hardly slave labour is it, £3,760 pm...
My great great grandfather stowed away on a ship. From Sydney to San Fransisco, he worked in a coal mine in the morning, and would then fish, and try to catch gold out of the river. He stumbled upon a Native Reservation and met my great great grandmother, they bought a plot of land, and he continued mining, and fishing for the rest of his life. Had 9 kids, not kidding, until he got black lung and died. The next few generations of my family became loggers, and hunters. My grandmother would tell me to NEVER work at Amazon, even if it was an easy hired job. "You'll only get one day older, and deeper in debt." The other night, some friends and myself were watching South Park, and it was this episode. Just a trippy few days.
Why would you go in debt working at amazon. As some one works at amazon as a picker/counter this video is actually really close to how amazon is. However It is far from a company town their workers choice to buy from Amazon because its cheap' conveniant they get a small discount on your firsr 1000$. That is compared to company towns that paid you in currency that can only be used in company owned stores where they would mark up the prices but you had no choice because your money was only accepted at the company stores that also meant you can only take debt from the company to because normal banks didn't accept the companies currency forcing your life and finances to revolve around the company. This is very different feom amazon who will actually pay even their lowest level employees if they want to quit thousands of dollars it starts at 2k after 1 year and gous up to like 5k. The job sucks but objectively its no worse than most other jobs and offers okay pay and great benifits.
@@danjoredd in the episode Amazon takes over the whole town so no shops are open anymore. Everyone is forced to buy their stuff off Amazon thats why the songs says "I owe my soul to the company store"
Hence the old song about coal mining. In the old days coal miners got payed discount paper towards the coal companies stores conveniently place near the workers area. Those discounts where only legal in those stores. So history repeats itself
Well that is what Ford did after increasing wages in the 1900s. The idea was that if the employees made more money, they would buy more stuff, preferably their business
You missed the irony, everything he bought in this video was not needed. The video is more a slam on American consumerism than it is on Amazon. He made himself a slave for stupid things
Isn't that comparison they're making? To how Amazon is making employees work in conditions that damage their mental health, and that the reliance people have built on Amazon means they can't even complain?
@@greenseagull9611 close but no cigar its about coal mining companies and how they used to basically give out like chuck-e-cheese cash to them so they could only spend it at the “company store”
@@derekjordan3119 that's what I meant by "reliance". They got store credit instead of actual money, and since that equated to zero monetary value anywhere else they were left reliant on the company to survive
Yes, I assume that's what they were going for. It may not be coal but it's still pretty fucking shit. A poor man's made out of muscle and blood and a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
i actually never paid close attention to the lyrics, but "a poor man is made out of muscle and blood; muscle and blood and skin and bone; a mind that's weak and a back that's strong" sounds like a direct quote from macciavelli's 'il principe'.
You know they picked the right song for this episode of South Park, you work at the place you buy stuff that your town does not sell like a Wallmart a big huge home improvement store, or a big chain outdoor hunting fishing place or big chain auto place. Not joking, the less and less is there small stores in USA towns unless they are for niche things like tattoos as you need the right licensees for that, specific hobbies that large stores can't/won't cater to or won't cater to very well and then the Greenhouses as it seems only the independent ones sell plants that do best for not only the climate but soil too. Beer/liquor stores sometimes too due to odd laws of those being only sold in liquor specific stores in some states in the USA.
and rather than people learning a skill or trade & starting a business to support their town, they just get a sales associate job at Walmart or any of the stores you mentioned yay corporate capitalism
When I was an amazon delivery driver I remember discovering this song when I was in the middle of a particularly heavy load, made that shift so much better.
Haven't listened to this song for a couple of years. But I recently got a job in a supermarket in a warehouse, stacking shelfs etc. and remembered the song randomly. I absolutely hate the job, how do people do it day in day out? It's insane
Drugs, mostly. Every warehouse job I've had or someone I know has had involved drug testing, and usually a regular firing because someone came in obviously drunk or high. I've also worked at places where there's been random, company-wide drugs tests, which were then ignored because literally everyone they tested failed.
Actually, south park animators based this off of Fox News footage of inside an Amazon fulfillment center, so it's extremely accurate. Most scenes are literally a frame by frame copy of what the actual footage was too. South park did a great job of this.
This was my snow shoveling song for over two decades. Last year was the first time in my life that it wasn't expected of me that I had to do ALL the shoveling at the place I worked. Apartment manager, real estate office, museum, etc. Just because I was the youngest, strongest male. Ah, the North. Some winters are over ten feet of the stuff and new snow everyday for a week.
My parents are in their 70s and I knew of this song for awhile, and yes, this was my song I would listen to on Amazon music while driving to Amazon FC to work back in 2015-2018.
This song is about the Pullman strike in Sept 1894 which is why Labor Day is in Sept. The Pullman Strike was a railroad company that created its own town and paid low rages but required people to live in the town; pay rent to the company, buy food and cloth at the company store, etc and with their low wages and the companies high prices they went further and further in debt each week and weren't allowed to quit or leave until their paid. That's the reference to St.Peter, the idea they can't even die to escape the debt. They ended up striking and people died all over the country as the railroad wasn't operating. But the Pullman Strike was centralized west of Detroit. It's very similar to Amazon. It really resonated with me. I don't know if everyone noticed the parallels.
I had heard about the Pullman strike but didn't know that this song was inspired by it. I think the line about "owe my soul to the company store" is even more relevant today.
@@GVoodoo I was gonna say that it wasn't just one instance the song writer was referencing. There were many labor disputes all over the Appalachian mountains around the turn of the century.
The best part is all Mr. Stotch got out of all his work was a few petty pieces of useless junk - an egg whisk, some TV shows, a bike horn. Meanwhile look how hard he was working and that's all he got.
I work for a Japanese stationery maker called Gotake. The work environment is exactly what this video is about. Many employees quit because they can't stand the hard work. That's why we post job vacancies all the time.
that's the end goal, they offer decent pay and benefits in order to draw in new employees that they can use to make more profit, knowing very well that new employee will either quit or be fired in a short time span, allowing them to pocket the profit and repeat until technology and money allows them to automate everything.
something i'm noticing about the comments: there are a lot of people whining about how much amazon makes, and other people pointing out the obvious "these people are working all day to give their pay back to the company" as the song alludes to, but no one is pointing out that ...the actual hard labor looks like it's being done by machines and robots. some comments are pointing out that the song is about a coal miner who has a hard job, but no one is pointing out the punchline that butter's dad says he breaks his back to provide for his family (setting up the joke) but actually, he just stands around bored, doing practically nothing, and gets paid for it... how freaking lucky that guy is, his life is so comfortable that his concept of "hard work" is that he basically clocks in, watches machines work, then clocks out to consume, consume, consume. absurdity. so... i'm pretty sure that's more important here than the "i pay the company that pays me and they make lots of money" angle that everyone is harping on about. i wonder how the people complaining about the job illustrated above would fare working in a coal mine (i.e. actual hard work)
After rewatching, I get that angle. At first viewing I interpreted it as machines beginning to do the work and humans being phased out slowly. One part in particular, it talks about the 16 tons and the shot is of machines pulling all the weight while the humans watch.
Its like back in old days when fictional novels would expose and discuss issues in society and would bring about change. That is what south park is today, bringing the issues up without bringing them up. Books and authors such as, the jungle, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Emily Bronte, and others.
I dont work in Amazon insted Its a big factory and the place looks a lot like this And now i cant stop hearing this song when im working in my machine or eating in the lunch break.
I love how the British worker has a northern English accent. probably because the North was heavily industrialised during the 1800s, particularly coal mining. Such a weirdly specific little detail.
Heard this song applied similarly to the opening scene of ‘Joe versus the Volcano’ That scene really captured the feel of work “life” grind. I’ve worked in around Coal Handling Plants and even that scene was more dirtier and dreary than real life.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are *Mark Twain* of our time and they really should be next recipients of that award, coz as it is, it is already long overdue.
Today i learned that a song written more than half a decade ago about the "slavery" in the coal mine towns (miners get in debt with the company they work for) can apply nowadays too. The future is bright indeed.
I love how South Park doesn't just indict Amazon with their shady business practices, but also each and every one of us that contributes. We know how horrible Amazon is, just as we've always known companies employ sweatshop labour in 3rd world countries...we just don't care. It's even worse, because we always sort of assumed that we tolerated sweatshop labour because they were in places far away by people we didn't identify with...but Amazon workers are us, and we STILL don't care. As long as we get that device or item we think we want we're willing to look the other way as workers and labourers build the virtual, modern-day Pyramids. We truly DO owe our souls to the company store.
don't care? it's actually worse, deep down humans feel relief at the knowledge of these things "at least someone out there has it worse than me" their subconscious minds all think, though absolutely none would ever admit it. Humanity fostered a world where everyone is enslaved to something and for most people that's your employer.
This is nothing compared to the coal mines then, they could not shop anywhere because they where paid with coal merits each month that can only me used in the company's store. The items would be overpriced making most of them in debt. They could only pay it off with those merits. They would get paid barely anything and they would have to buy more and more for their family and themselves making them more in dept. They were legel slaves and what we have compares nothing to back then.
It's fairly accurate except your task variety is usually much lower. Stephen (Butter's dad) is lucky to have so much variety of tasks to do. It makes the job much less monotonous. When I worked as a picker, it was incredibly lonely and tiresome as I scanned and moved 2500-3000 packages a day. I could go 10 hour shift without talking to or seeing anyone except a technician to fix the machines. Picking was everyone's least favorite job, one of the highest turnover rates.
Jesus.. this is way too accurate. I started working at Amazon a few days ago and I just can never get this song out of my head. South Park warned me, I should’ve listened.
I am someone who searches extensively through the stuff of the past, but South Park gets the credit of introducing me to Sixteen Tons. Thank you South Park. As an aside, the two-part episode that includes this segment is the absolute best of SP in my opinion. Love Bezos in this. And the communist box - genius.
So I didn't realize there is a variation of this South Park sequence. 0:51 shows Stotch eating while listening to (and ordering) Amazon Prime music and 1:25 Linda had groceries delivered from Amazon Fresh (hand mixer still needed). Nice touch and I wonder why the difference. South Park Wiki may know.
They played this song at the Amazon I work at today
Haha, Would love to see it irl :3
Daddy jeff just flexin on his slaves
*daddy jeff*
Y'all get music?
NO WAY
The song 16 tons was about the life of a coal miner working super hard (loading 16 tons) and risking his life to get paid. Since coal mines were remote, the mining company would have a company store to sell basic necessities. So the company would get the money paid to the coal miner back through the company store. Mr. Stotch working super hard at Amazon fulfillment center and then buying his goods from Amazon draws such a great comparison to the coal miner's lifestyle. Very well crafted Matt Stone and Trey Parker!
Yup. 20 plus years on, and this show can still hit some very high notes.
nice catch, love how deep this show can get despite the simple visuals
except you also forgot to mention the company store would be priced such that no matter how you tried to scrimp and save, you were ALWAYS in debt to the store, even if you made your "16 tons" quota.
@@hengineer that's why the company store extend you credit if you didn't have the funds. Another version of this is payday advances. A perpetual cycle of debt/credit and you enslaved
Sometimes they wouldn't even pay them cash and get ti bakc they'd pay in ocmpany scrip.,
South Park clearly send someone into the Amazon factory cause its very accurate
I was disappointed to learn that they copied news footage almost verbatim. Usually the South Park crew is more original than that.
I think that was the point
@@ReinEngel I enjoy the accuracy of it, if it was made to look even more like a sweatshop I'd not enjoy that as much.
@@ReinEngel The point is showing that our world is a freaking parody of itself.
Or they used Google images
As a former amazon employee I can confirm this is almost exactly how it is and looks.
This Southpark skit is just a copy of an Amazon documentary bit.
Well, it seems Boring, but its not bad, if you take away the low salary it is a good job
@@juliosalazar6558 "if you take away the reason you have a job, it is a good job"
@@juliosalazar6558 like how bezos takes away 100% profit by tax avoidance that would normally be considered tax evasion if he didn’t pay lobbyists? Like that?
@@msv9637 idk anything about taxes, just talking as an employee
At 2:04 he’s actually doing a job called line straightening which means you just stand there and straighten the boxes on the conveyor if they need to be straightening and fix the label machine if it goes down or need printer paper but 95% of the time you just stand there and do literally nothing but watch the boxes come down the conveyor.
Dude, that is profoundly depressing
Soul crushing monotony and boredom
Just thinking about doing that for 1 day is instant depression
@@iHaveTheDocuments I worked in this warehouse that made those cookies that have sprinkles on them, and first day of the job was completely horrible. My job was literally grabbing a handful of cookies from a conveyor belt and placing them into a small plastic carton, then after like 30 minutes (which was how long a lunch was) i would move up a spot and continue to do the same thing. I quit the same day and got a job at Walmart that pays $17 (the same amount from that warehouse job) and honestly I’m better off here than that other job.
With all the automation that Amazon has done it's strange that something like that hasn't been automated.
It’s funny on a level a lot of younger viewers may not completely understand, when that song was written it was referring to coal miners who were paid with a form of currency that could only be spent in the stores owned by the company who also employed them, “company stores” like the song says. Now with Amazon, of our own accord we do something similar.
Lorelei Ellen thank you for this bit of history.
Well amazon employees can spend their paycheque anywhere. And even get a discount on the normal things they buy if they buy them through amazon.
Seems pretty sweet, am sure the coal workers would agree.
Absolutely!
Also the fact that the items would be priced so highly that most of the workers were in dept and had to work in the mine to pay it off, but they never could because of how much they got paid. They where practically legel slaves
I understood completely.
This is the most genius four minutes of affecting social commentary included in a comedy show since Norman Lear’s socially-conscious sit-coms of the early 1970’s.
South park has a talent for that
Did it make you stop buying from Amazon?
@@rockinbro1559 I personally buy most things I can from locally owned stores that I like. I don't buy groceries online, I don't buy parts online, hell, few of my PC parts were purchased online. Unfortunately the amount of brick and mortar stores have decreased since the 10s but I do at least some part in trying to keep them open.
He is literally giving the money he earned back to Amazon.
Hence the Company Store.
I think that's the point.
Yes.
But He getting Free Prime and benefits so that he retire at 30 and 15.00 wage
Well.. in exchange for a bike horn and a whisk
This job... it lacks Tegridy™
😁😁😁
™
Tastes like shit, you won't care!
Tegridy weed
I really like how they’re using the original Tennessee Ernie Ford version. Great tribute to him
Except he isn't the original singer. Merle Travis wrote and performed it first.
Johnny Cash has a good cover
@@nightmarefanatic1819Ernie’s version is the best and that’s all that matters
@@nightmarefanatic1819if not for Ern nobody would know this song
This isn't the original
this scene is iconic, it's nuts how this song stills holds up lyrically-- the working class being screwed over as usual
my wife worked at an amazon fulfillment center for a while and she said it was damn near dystopian. she blew out her knee on the clock once and got absolutely no help...glad she got outta there, but man do i feel awful for the people still working for this monster of a company
Sure bud. This is so stupid. Amazon employees do not have it worse than COAL MINERS. You aren’t forced into perpetual debt by Amazon, the conditions in the warehouses are incredibly safe, the pay is actually livable, and the benefits are good.
Your made up “wife” and your made up story are stupid.
Such is the reality of existence itself. In this world pain and struggle are the only thing’s truly guaranteed. Best you can hope for is shit gets a little better every generation without the next being softer than the last
@@carsoncasmirri3874 that tactic doesn't work, we need a revolution
@@carsoncasmirri3874 sometimes though i think the softer generation is better - for example my dad worked in a mine in Wales, he worked hard, was treated shit and got crap pay, however a current generation kid would never let that happen to themselves they would either quit, get a union involved or protest instead of muscling through it
@ Carson Casmirri stop watching retard navy seals babble about life philosophy, it’ll just lead you down the path of a state sanctioned psychopath
Fun Fact: Butters sang this song when his parents were about to sell him to paris hilton as he was trying to dig up 250.000.000$ worth of coal.
Carma for Butters father. He deserved this
What episode was it?
@@mainaim81 It is "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset"
Season 8 Episode 12
@@Sty1a much obliged
czcams.com/video/j9MkCEZHdxs/video.html
I remember when this Episode aired. i was laughing. Now i work as 1
Having this song in my head everyday.
How is it
@@Gulag00 getting used to it.
I'm sorry you have to hate your life.
Never work anywhere they put painkillers in the vending machines. Just Nope. Bad sign
Get into trades. City colleges.
Join your union
Americans: We have Freedom!
The Freedom they are referring to:
Bro gets his information from a South Park episode
The other option is to educate yourself so you aren't a box handler. In America you can own the company store. But not for much longer if the Democrats have their way.
@@prm7216 doesn’t matter to me if Democrats control America
@@prm7216 I don’t Care
@@Darksaviour You are one of those uneducated Leftist box handlers that screeches for higher wages while not doing anything to educate themselves. Amiright? 🤣
It’s funny because people don’t realize how accurate this is.
Amazon warehouses are BRUTAL, and the workers there receive almost no breaks, very small periods for lunch, and very few days off. In fact, a lot of small towns that Amazon moves into actually become company towns, which is ironically what the song of about. They move in, they soak up a lot of jobs, and eventually push competition out of the area. The only ones that can really compete are ones that don’t actively TRY to compete, and instead operate in different or exclusive industries, and even then their business is often hurt by Amazon just being in that town.
It’s sad, really.
Nah I work at amazon it's a fine job alot easier physically than many other jobs I've had pay is fair benefits are good they treat you with respect it's a great job
@@lennystiggs7806 I wonder who could be behind this post
@@lennystiggs7806 begone bot
@@pikslap1185 Relax yourselves. I also work at Amazon, and it's just about the best that an entry level job can get.
They're paying double minimum wage and giving a $3000 sign on bonus.
@@dalleneldredge6923 Wow! Thank you fellow worker! I think I will go apply to my local Amazon warehouse today!
Kenny's dad finally has a job!
Frank Miranda of course he does how else do you think he is able to afford all that crack and beer
Darian Davis his meth lab he used to run
And he was willing to lose it when an employee gets screwed over
@@piplup2009 that's what you call tegridy
@@robinalonso-desouza7245 what if the company offered to pay him in crack
The british worker in the beginning makes me laugh every time! "Gotta get down to the factory before the bell"
northern england.
@@aredub1847 Yep. I can only assume he's meant to be a reference to the huge coal mining industry in northern England back in the day.
As a UPS worker, the song is scarily accurate.
As a preloader, I agree
@@Jeremy-pb5xk Day sort loader.
hello mister UPS man, a man wife its his life
WHERE IS MY GODDAMN PACKAGE?
@@syn4588 dude, he owes his soul to the company store, not your package.
Decades past and the message is just as relevant as ever...
@@akshaynatu1084 I haven't for about 5 years
You know what’s funny, Butters actually sings this song in season 8 episode 12...and now his dad is working to the same song
czcams.com/video/j9MkCEZHdxs/video.html
Carma...
Literally blast this song on my commute to amazon every morning XD
Same
try this one
czcams.com/video/GzcGOgxDoEk/video.html
@@artski09 Gene father is that really you
Um. That sounds awful.
He submits with pleasure! What a Brave New World we live in
You work 18 hours, what do you get...Parents sell you to Paris Hilton 😂
Ahhhhh hamburgers!
Look at that: a bear....mining for coal.
Huh, I never.
Yes hahashhahss
That was sad. He earns and spends his paycheck there.
Better than company scrip
@@GunRecon uh it's the same thing.... amazon is the modern coal mine
@@libertyprime619 yes the company that pays above average wages for people to move packages is the exact same as a coal company literally working people to death for money that they can't even use. There are similarities that I think South Park points out well, but they are not the same.
Oh yes. So incredibly sad that he spends his money at the world's largest store that has anything and everything for lower prices than brick and mortar stores. Also sad that he gets all their services for free and a discount on everything he buys. So sad that he has a disposable income. So sad that he works in a government regulated facility with all the latest technology, assistive equipment, safety protocols, and worker rights. Dude please: shut up. Go back to playing videogames in your mom's basement or grow a pair.
WindTheBrave I work at amazon, it’s fine, you get a decent wage and plenty of hours... I don’t shop at amazon.. last week I earned £945 for picking and stowing... hardly slave labour is it, £3,760 pm...
My great great grandfather stowed away on a ship. From Sydney to San Fransisco, he worked in a coal mine in the morning, and would then fish, and try to catch gold out of the river. He stumbled upon a Native Reservation and met my great great grandmother, they bought a plot of land, and he continued mining, and fishing for the rest of his life. Had 9 kids, not kidding, until he got black lung and died. The next few generations of my family became loggers, and hunters. My grandmother would tell me to NEVER work at Amazon, even if it was an easy hired job. "You'll only get one day older, and deeper in debt." The other night, some friends and myself were watching South Park, and it was this episode. Just a trippy few days.
Part auzzie huh?
Why would you go in debt working at amazon. As some one works at amazon as a picker/counter this video is actually really close to how amazon is. However It is far from a company town their workers choice to buy from Amazon because its cheap' conveniant they get a small discount on your firsr 1000$. That is compared to company towns that paid you in currency that can only be used in company owned stores where they would mark up the prices but you had no choice because your money was only accepted at the company stores that also meant you can only take debt from the company to because normal banks didn't accept the companies currency forcing your life and finances to revolve around the company. This is very different feom amazon who will actually pay even their lowest level employees if they want to quit thousands of dollars it starts at 2k after 1 year and gous up to like 5k. The job sucks but objectively its no worse than most other jobs and offers okay pay and great benifits.
@@austinblackburn8095 The phrase "slavery with extra steps" comes to mind...
@@artemeremin I believe that phrase applies to the prison industry not a job that now pays 17.50 an hour and gives benefits day 1
@@austinblackburn8095 oh dude please stop simping for a multi billion dollar company and always stand with workers
I'm an old school South Park fan and this is one of my favorite scenes ever. It's great to see that they still haven't gone downhill.
Mr. Stotch is literally giving every dime he makes back to his employer. That is insane.
@@danjoredd in the episode Amazon takes over the whole town so no shops are open anymore. Everyone is forced to buy their stuff off Amazon thats why the songs says "I owe my soul to the company store"
Hence the old song about coal mining. In the old days coal miners got payed discount paper towards the coal companies stores conveniently place near the workers area. Those discounts where only legal in those stores. So history repeats itself
Well that is what Ford did after increasing wages in the 1900s. The idea was that if the employees made more money, they would buy more stuff, preferably their business
You missed the irony, everything he bought in this video was not needed. The video is more a slam on American consumerism than it is on Amazon. He made himself a slave for stupid things
Thx South Park for introducing me to this great song!
Johnny Cash version is best.
Youngster
@@DigDigDig lies
I know the song is meant to talk about life of coal workers. But this surprisingly works
Isn't that comparison they're making? To how Amazon is making employees work in conditions that damage their mental health, and that the reliance people have built on Amazon means they can't even complain?
@@greenseagull9611 close but no cigar its about coal mining companies and how they used to basically give out like chuck-e-cheese cash to them so they could only spend it at the “company store”
@@derekjordan3119 that's what I meant by "reliance". They got store credit instead of actual money, and since that equated to zero monetary value anywhere else they were left reliant on the company to survive
@@greenseagull9611 oh alright then my bad, i just thought you mightve missed how he goes full circle buying from them but you nailed it :)
Yes, I assume that's what they were going for. It may not be coal but it's still pretty fucking shit. A poor man's made out of muscle and blood and a mind that's weak and a back that's strong.
One of south parks more serious moment’s I like how they actually played the whole song
Wow, brilliant!! Same problems, different century. .
Well said!
Thanks, capitalism :/
@@FlorianEagox the alternatives aren't much better.
people always use the failures of communism & socialism to justify the failures of capitalism or even to derail any progress in fighting inequity
@@trashketchum9782 truer words do not exist!!
i actually never paid close attention to the lyrics, but "a poor man is made out of muscle and blood; muscle and blood and skin and bone; a mind that's weak and a back that's strong" sounds like a direct quote from macciavelli's 'il principe'.
Painfully accurate and emotional episode. Some of their episodes make me so sad, I can’t even laugh
YEah some of them are far too real to be funny.
You know they picked the right song for this episode of South Park, you work at the place you buy stuff that your town does not sell like a Wallmart a big huge home improvement store, or a big chain outdoor hunting fishing place or big chain auto place. Not joking, the less and less is there small stores in USA towns unless they are for niche things like tattoos as you need the right licensees for that, specific hobbies that large stores can't/won't cater to or won't cater to very well and then the Greenhouses as it seems only the independent ones sell plants that do best for not only the climate but soil too. Beer/liquor stores sometimes too due to odd laws of those being only sold in liquor specific stores in some states in the USA.
and rather than people learning a skill or trade & starting a business to support their town, they just get a sales associate job at Walmart or any of the stores you mentioned
yay corporate capitalism
@@trashketchum9782 bros blaming the exploited people rather than walmart
@@katec2886it is easy to blame the victims because then you get to ignore the actual problems
When I was an amazon delivery driver I remember discovering this song when I was in the middle of a particularly heavy load, made that shift so much better.
Haven't listened to this song for a couple of years. But I recently got a job in a supermarket in a warehouse, stacking shelfs etc. and remembered the song randomly. I absolutely hate the job, how do people do it day in day out? It's insane
I would never do that kind of job. If you can work somewhere else.
"Shelves," for one thing. Skills and education. City colleges. Trade school is there. Carpentry. Plumbing. Truck driver. Electrician. Pipe fitter.
Drugs, mostly. Every warehouse job I've had or someone I know has had involved drug testing, and usually a regular firing because someone came in obviously drunk or high.
I've also worked at places where there's been random, company-wide drugs tests, which were then ignored because literally everyone they tested failed.
Holy crap, so much of this looks exactly like the FC I work at. They must’ve had someone go to one and take notes or something.
Actually, south park animators based this off of Fox News footage of inside an Amazon fulfillment center, so it's extremely accurate. Most scenes are literally a frame by frame copy of what the actual footage was too. South park did a great job of this.
It is based off of footage of real Centers
Nobody does parody better than South park.❤
Every working person in the world needs to see this
This was my snow shoveling song for over two decades. Last year was the first time in my life that it wasn't expected of me that I had to do ALL the shoveling at the place I worked. Apartment manager, real estate office, museum, etc. Just because I was the youngest, strongest male. Ah, the North. Some winters are over ten feet of the stuff and new snow everyday for a week.
I work in a warehouse and this speaks to my soul
@@akshaynatu1084 because I need money? Duh
My parents are in their 70s and I knew of this song for awhile, and yes, this was my song I would listen to on Amazon music while driving to Amazon FC to work back in 2015-2018.
Can I just go ahead and say I LOVE this version of 16 Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford?
Ikr
This clip is so fkg brilliant. I remember seeing it while watching the episode, It was touching and sad. People has gone insane officially.
This song is about the Pullman strike in Sept 1894 which is why Labor Day is in Sept. The Pullman Strike was a railroad company that created its own town and paid low rages but required people to live in the town; pay rent to the company, buy food and cloth at the company store, etc and with their low wages and the companies high prices they went further and further in debt each week and weren't allowed to quit or leave until their paid. That's the reference to St.Peter, the idea they can't even die to escape the debt. They ended up striking and people died all over the country as the railroad wasn't operating. But the Pullman Strike was centralized west of Detroit. It's very similar to Amazon. It really resonated with me. I don't know if everyone noticed the parallels.
I had heard about the Pullman strike but didn't know that this song was inspired by it. I think the line about "owe my soul to the company store" is even more relevant today.
Song is about coal mining towns. Similar but not that strike. Especially since the original writer was in Kentucky
ok and?
People died because the railroad wasn't operating? What?
@@GVoodoo I was gonna say that it wasn't just one instance the song writer was referencing. There were many labor disputes all over the Appalachian mountains around the turn of the century.
"we gotta get down to the factory fore the bell!" Dude how do these guys do the voices without cracking tf up
they dont.... usually
Its pretty accurate and this is coming from someone currently working at amazon, but the packing part was inaccurate
South park has its moments
This episode is one
Check out last week tonight warehouses
One of the best scenes in modern media
The best part is all Mr. Stotch got out of all his work was a few petty pieces of useless junk - an egg whisk, some TV shows, a bike horn. Meanwhile look how hard he was working and that's all he got.
And you can do the same thing with a fork (beat eggs)
I got an ad for Amazon before this video started. I actually laughed out loud.
I like how Stephen actually cares about butters
I work for a Japanese stationery maker called Gotake.
The work environment is exactly what this video is about.
Many employees quit because they can't stand the hard work.
That's why we post job vacancies all the time.
Probably with high sign up bonuses, right?
That's if they work hard for over three years.
Black company?
The only episode where I truly empathized with Butter's dad.
been there and done that, cant tell you how accurate that is haha!
I love how they used Amazon for that song!!! So accurate
This music choice is chilling.
What's crazy is robots could completely take over Amazon.
They'll take our jerbs.
that's the end goal, they offer decent pay and benefits in order to draw in new employees that they can use to make more profit, knowing very well that new employee will either quit or be fired in a short time span, allowing them to pocket the profit and repeat until technology and money allows them to automate everything.
Can confirm work at the Amazon this is how it is
Good for Ern! Glad he still gets recognition. Best bass/baritone singer
I'm literally pulling a pallet while listening to this song
Crazy how this scene didn't have any parody or irony in it, because the reality of Amazon's existence is insane enough as it is.
The truly terrible thing about this genius piece of art is that it will apply to MOST companies in the near future.
The only time I feel good about Steven as a character. Seeing the joy on your child's face is always worth the labor
Used to work as an order picker. This looks like paradise compared to what I had to put up with.
The Amazon I used to work at let us hook speakers on us to play music and everyone hated me for playing it, didn’t know why until now
Hahah you just made my day friend (づ￣ ³￣)づ
I always love how south park makes something so artful, but it always feels like an accident.
something i'm noticing about the comments: there are a lot of people whining about how much amazon makes, and other people pointing out the obvious "these people are working all day to give their pay back to the company" as the song alludes to, but no one is pointing out that ...the actual hard labor looks like it's being done by machines and robots. some comments are pointing out that the song is about a coal miner who has a hard job,
but no one is pointing out the punchline that butter's dad says he breaks his back to provide for his family (setting up the joke) but actually, he just stands around bored, doing practically nothing, and gets paid for it... how freaking lucky that guy is, his life is so comfortable that his concept of "hard work" is that he basically clocks in, watches machines work, then clocks out to consume, consume, consume. absurdity.
so... i'm pretty sure that's more important here than the "i pay the company that pays me and they make lots of money" angle that everyone is harping on about.
i wonder how the people complaining about the job illustrated above would fare working in a coal mine (i.e. actual hard work)
After rewatching, I get that angle. At first viewing I interpreted it as machines beginning to do the work and humans being phased out slowly. One part in particular, it talks about the 16 tons and the shot is of machines pulling all the weight while the humans watch.
The fact that they come up with bangers almost ever episode
To be fair, they didn't write this one
They didn't write this song.
i was amazed when watching this episode on amazon prime
Its like back in old days when fictional novels would expose and discuss issues in society and would bring about change. That is what south park is today, bringing the issues up without bringing them up. Books and authors such as, the jungle, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Emily Bronte, and others.
I dont work in Amazon insted Its a big factory and the place looks a lot like this And now i cant stop hearing this song when im working in my machine or eating in the lunch break.
I love how the British worker has a northern English accent. probably because the North was heavily industrialised during the 1800s, particularly coal mining. Such a weirdly specific little detail.
This is so true you guys better think of this when you order a shit ton of stuff on Amazon
@Lefter Mc just a tad
Am I supposed to feel bad, if I stop ordering you guys don’t get money
@@ReedBoi-tv2se just dont order has often
us ordering stuff isn't the problem here, the problem is that amazon is building a retail monopoly and has horrible work conditions
@@degiguess yes it's most certainly is
Heard this song applied similarly to the opening scene of ‘Joe versus the Volcano’
That scene really captured the feel of work “life” grind.
I’ve worked in around Coal Handling Plants and even that scene was more dirtier and dreary than real life.
Sequences like this are what keep that tiny pilot light of my film ambitions on, even though I will never even see my goal.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are *Mark Twain* of our time and they really should be next recipients of that award, coz as it is, it is already long overdue.
Learned this song from fallout and this plays in my head when I’m at amazon but this is beautifully put
Es la mejor escena que he visto en una serie animada
I can’t even laugh at this because I’m too busy crying
Amazing how well this fits.
Working 11 hour shifts building an Amazon warehouse and I have this song in my head all day long
Do You sing it as well with your fellow colleagues?
My brother works at Amazon and I play this when he leaves for work
Absolutely brilliant!
The fact that south park nodded to Tennessee Ernie and 16 tons is magnificent.
Like the stupendium said: we earn what we’re allowed and give it right back at the bar
Work 'till you bleed, ennobled by labour, then purchase relief from your local retailer
@@TheHalogen131 if you’d rather drop dead that’s fine, but know that dropping down dead bears a fine
i work for FedEx and it is eerie how accurate this episode is to me
OMG I was working at Amazon when this first aired and I couldn't believe how accurate it was.
Today i learned that a song written more than half a decade ago about the "slavery" in the coal mine towns (miners get in debt with the company they work for) can apply nowadays too. The future is bright indeed.
Well today's my first day
FML
I love how South Park doesn't just indict Amazon with their shady business practices, but also each and every one of us that contributes. We know how horrible Amazon is, just as we've always known companies employ sweatshop labour in 3rd world countries...we just don't care. It's even worse, because we always sort of assumed that we tolerated sweatshop labour because they were in places far away by people we didn't identify with...but Amazon workers are us, and we STILL don't care. As long as we get that device or item we think we want we're willing to look the other way as workers and labourers build the virtual, modern-day Pyramids.
We truly DO owe our souls to the company store.
don't care? it's actually worse, deep down humans feel relief at the knowledge of these things "at least someone out there has it worse than me" their subconscious minds all think, though absolutely none would ever admit it. Humanity fostered a world where everyone is enslaved to something and for most people that's your employer.
Just stop buying from amazon. There automating every job anyway yours won't be there soon
I care and don't order very often... in fact i dont order much in general, except books i guess.
Absurd. Amazon gives people what they want. Customers get goods. Workers get money.
"we just don't care" speak for yourself mate..
We getting out of Appalachia with this one 🔥🔥🔥🔥 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️
So creative! This made my inner absurdist very happy
Great now old people can stop whining about how hard they had it back then
That will never happen.
well this is nothing compared to the generation that fought ww2 and the generations before that
This is nothing compared to the coal mines then, they could not shop anywhere because they where paid with coal merits each month that can only me used in the company's store. The items would be overpriced making most of them in debt. They could only pay it off with those merits. They would get paid barely anything and they would have to buy more and more for their family and themselves making them more in dept. They were legel slaves and what we have compares nothing to back then.
Viktor yeah that’s called a war my dude, those are never fun
Subka Gaming yeah you just described Amazon except cleaner
It's fairly accurate except your task variety is usually much lower. Stephen (Butter's dad) is lucky to have so much variety of tasks to do. It makes the job much less monotonous. When I worked as a picker, it was incredibly lonely and tiresome as I scanned and moved 2500-3000 packages a day. I could go 10 hour shift without talking to or seeing anyone except a technician to fix the machines. Picking was everyone's least favorite job, one of the highest turnover rates.
Uhm, I would love that. I’d rather be alone
This clip is pure poetry brilliance.
Jesus.. this is way too accurate. I started working at Amazon a few days ago and I just can never get this song out of my head. South Park warned me, I should’ve listened.
When I gonna have chilfren in the future and they don't wanna study, I will show them is.
I'll do the same!! ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)👌
lol
so instead they'll be in college debt while still working at amazon?
@@kenetickups6146 beat me to it.
I am someone who searches extensively through the stuff of the past, but South Park gets the credit of introducing me to Sixteen Tons. Thank you South Park.
As an aside, the two-part episode that includes this segment is the absolute best of SP in my opinion. Love Bezos in this. And the communist box - genius.
So I didn't realize there is a variation of this South Park sequence. 0:51 shows Stotch eating while listening to (and ordering) Amazon Prime music and 1:25 Linda had groceries delivered from Amazon Fresh (hand mixer still needed). Nice touch and I wonder why the difference. South Park Wiki may know.
This was perfectly crafted