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thecrystalrook
Jul '21

There needs to be clarification here that having a vision does not make you an evil person. We all have a vision here as writers and illustrators. But, part of your vision should include the humane treatment of any of your potential workers.

While Jeff Bezos himself doesn't walk around cracking a whip at his employees, the company he created and today profits off of is responsible. I need to make this as clear as possible, becoming a billionaire is not possible without mass exploitation of the working class. You need a massive amount of workers, working absurd hours, for little pay. It's an unfathomable amount of money that the mass majority will never even come close to achieving. Imagine how long it can take the average person to reach $1 million. Now do that again 1000 times. You cannot even reasonably spend that amount of money in a single lifetime. This is why we judge Bezos and other billionaires as harshly as we do. He hoards wealth and will never put it back into the economy. What's worse, he works no harder than a typical office worker (you can look up his daily routine, he's talked about it in interviews. It's really boring) and reaps in absurd amounts of money as his shares of Amazon increase in value. And it's easy enough for him to liquidate chunks of it when he needs it given the demand of Amazon stock. Meanwhile, his workers are breaking their asses, peeing in bottles, literally dying on the job (guy had a heart attack and was left there for 20 minutes) but GOD FORBID you take a bathroom break.

I can confirm the poor working conditions. A good friend of mine worked in one of their warehouses for a couple of years. He was literally doing the work of 2 people and was fantastic at his job. He got fired because he had 2 minutes of unclocked time on one occasion so he could use the bathroom.

Now, as for the "yet you continue to buy from them" argument. It's nearly impossible for many to avoid. If you're in a food desert, you probably rely on them to get groceries. Or often they're just the cheapest option. Or you don't have a car, so delivery is your only option and Amazon just happens to be the fastest. Moreso, Amazon makes majority of their money through AWS. So if you use Twitch, Netflix etc, you are still supporting them indirectly. To make this clear, participating in a structure of capitalism does not make you a hypocrite. Participation in the system is forced to survive.

tldr; a person with this amount of money and with a company as large as amazon is dangerous

nathanKmcwilliamsIn the making of Bunneh The Rabbit
Jul '21

I'm really more concerned about his grip on the media. He owns an entire newspaper, The Washington Post, Don't know how active he is with it, but it's just another way that the media controls the populace.

And honestly, all of the big tech honchos are just as bad to me. They act like they're a gift to mankind and meddle in the political scene. They own politicians, and have way too much power over what people can say or not say. They appear altruistic, but I don't believe it for a second.

crowstories
Jul '21

As someone working for a small online retailer, I will not shop from amazon, since they would love to put me out of a job. They have a predatory practice of inviting retailers to sell via amazon (they asked us, we declined) then once they have the data on what sells best for that brand, they make their own cheaper version and drive the smaller company out of business.

I also can't be okay with anybody hoarding that much wealth while poor people continue to suffer and die from lack of access to basic necessities. There will always be someone in the comments ready to step up and defend the billionaires, as if anybody can actually earn that much money without exploiting other people, but nobody needs that much money, and hoarding it is actively causing suffering.

chestnutriceeee
Jul '21

For anyone wondering just how much money is a lot of money. Here is a good website to put in perspective the wealth of billionaires and Jeff Bezos

Birbmagadon
Jul '21
nathanKmcwilliams

You find them altruistic? How? Musk, Bezos, etc all look like megalomaniacs to me... But perhaps it's just me?

nathanKmcwilliamsIn the making of Bunneh The Rabbit
Jul '21

To people who don't think past the mainstream news headlines, I'd say yes, they appear that way.

Birbmagadon
Jul '21

That's fair... (Looking at you and your memes, Elon). But yeah, it certainly feels like PR moves more than genuine engagement so perhaps that's why it may not work on everyone.

thecrystalrook
Jul '21
nathanKmcwilliams

Yea this is accurate. Far too many people are praising Bezos for being the pioneer of future space travel now, but in reality he's probably just trying to become Space Lord Bezos.

...Think I'm gonna have to get some space pirates on this guy's ass :laughing:

Iris-Grimoire
Jul '21

Every day people like him wake up and go "we're going to perpetuate the hell world we're in, make it worse, and have so much money we couldn't possibly spend it in five lifetimes".

So, it would've been nice if he didn't come back from space, ever? Maybe the other people up top could've gone and stayed too.

Also, it's already a big thread on twitter, no one willingly stayed on space for more than a year so far - zero g, muscle problems, radiation, it's all still there in the best parts of the current space stations. If it's horrible for people who trained their whole lives to become astronauts, no, rich guy who never had a problem in his life isn't actually going to live to see a colony he'd want to stay in.

sushy00
Jul '21
Iris-Grimoire

I find it such a waste of resources that he went to space for three minutes. We all have to reduce our emissions, yet here he is shooting another rocket in the sky. (other parties are guilty of that too, it is not just Bezos in this case)

Iris-Grimoire
Jul '21

Yup! And claiming it's all for the advancement of humanity or some shit, but on the matters of surviving until we actually get results, nah, quarterly reports are more important.

sushy00
Jul '21
crowstories

That hoarding of money is actually damaging to the economy too. If only a few people have a lot of money, they're never going to spend it a lot (or maybe on stuff like Bitcoin and real estate). If you give that money to lots of poor people, they're going to buy furniture, cars, food, pillows etc, generating way more business.

chestnutriceeee
Jul '21

To be fair, I don't think anyone who has that much money will ever consider donating to NASA instead of going to space themselves. With that age and money, even the most humble and kind of people would much rather fulfil their selfish desires while giving their money to their own agencies. Blue Origin was founded back in 2000, it makes much more sense for him to invest in that himself.

On a completely different note, these simple space trips have pushed all big countries into a space race. There was no way they would work together anyway. So if they can consider finally investing in space technology by competing with each other, it's probably a winning scenario.

This is not my opinion on Bezos, of course. There were much better ways to spend the same amount of money by sending real astronauts and conducting research. No one needs nor deserves that much money.

thecrystalrook
Jul '21

Also I want to add that people with that amount of money can buy anyone or anything. Politicians, CEOs, other companies (squash out their competition), law suits, police, military, land etc.

Kaydreamer
Jul '21
thecrystalrook

Absolutely brilliant post. You really summed up the absurd injustice of it.

He could easily make changes to ensure his workers are well treated. It's the bare minimum expected of a decent person, wealth aside. But he hasn't. I don't think he cares.

sevenstarsofeightIam
Jul '21

Bezos? I think he should grow some hair. Rich people in space? It's an ego trip.

Must be nice to have money.

Can you imagine me trying to conquer space? I'm sitting there in my cardboard box; I strike a match to the bottom.

"Oh! Excuse me. Looks like I landed before I took off."

About Amazon. I have a book on Amazon, but I guess it's on a back shelf. I Have an Amazon account, but I haven't ordered anything yet. I am dubious about ordering on the internet and having boxes stolen from my front porch. They got some cool stuff, though.