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In the past 24 hours, Jeff Bezos added $405 million to his net worth. In the past year, Jeff Bezos added $41 billion to his net worth. And yet somehow, Amazon c

by fluxic 8y ago

In the past 24 hours, Jeff Bezos added $405 million to his net worth. In the past year, Jeff Bezos added $41 billion to his net worth. And yet somehow, Amazon can't throw a $50 million peanut at the epidemic of homelessness ravaging their hometown.

JumpCrisscross 8y ago
> Amazon can't throw a $50 million peanut at the epidemic of homelessness ravaging their hometown This is an unfair framing. The tax did far more damage than impair Amazon's bottom line. Your complaint, moreover, could be leveled against every public service in the city. There are simply better ways to solve this problem. Seattle's government chose pot shots over progress.
- fluxic 8y ago
  Sure there are simply better ways, there are always better ways, and those better ways will be likewise crushed by the muscle at Amazon who make sure the company can extract as much value out of Seattle without having to pay its fair share in taxes.
  - JumpCrisscross 8y ago
    > those better ways will be likewise crushed by the muscle at Amazon This tax was predominantly opposed by small business owners. (I think it was $25,000 donated by Amazon and close to $300,000 by small businesses.) The proposed tax was a flat payroll tax. That burdens lower-wage employees and employers much more than tech companies. There is perfect being the enemy of good, and then there is cutting off the nose to spite the face. This was the latter.
- s2g 8y ago
  > The tax did far more damage than impair Amazon's bottom line It really didn't though.
komali2 8y ago
Amazon is not the government. They don't have the expertise or even authority to tackle civic issues. I don't want them tackling civic issues because Amazon is a company. It is a profit algorithm in a capitalist system. Humans inside can steer it to Do Nice Things here and there but ultimately its lives because Profit. The government's ONLY job is to Do Nice Things (maintain nice status of life). Therefore, it is the government's failure to leverage its own powers to solve the homeless issue. Because it's a representative plutocratic democracy, the people are partially to blame as well, although class disparity is a major obstacle.
- fluxic 8y ago
  Your argument: 1. Amazon is not the government. 2. Amazon has no obligation to solve civic issues. 3. It is the government's job to solve civic issues. (The government tries to solve civic issues; Amazon uses its undue influence in Seattle to undermine the process.) 4. Ergo, it's all the government's fault.
  - komali2 8y ago
    Attacking Amazon for operating within its constraints to maximize profit seems silly to me. It is programmed to do nothing else. I say instead, attack the concept of capitalism (infeasible) or fight the fight in the battleground of the political sphere - vote and openly support candidates that want money out of government. Yea, finding one is hard, I agree.
    - fluxic 8y ago
      I agree that it's insane to expect Amazon to behave differently than what's expected of a contemporary American corporation™ (aka: pure profit extraction, no consideration for local social conditions or the greater social contract.) But rather than accepting Amazon's mundane corporate naughtiness, we should be vigilant and outspoken about it. The corporate norms we have now in North America are not etched in stone; we can inveigh against shitty behaviour while also doing what you suggest: electing better politicians and pursuing fairer tax policy.
    - 8y ago
pravinva 8y ago
The US government spends 9 billion per DAY. Perhaps you could ask your elected representative if they could divert 0.1 percent of it towards this problem instead of on spending on bombing brown people in far away lands -you realize the US spends more on military than next 14 countries with larger populations combined
- anothergoogler 8y ago
  You exaggerate the reach of Seattle's city council if you think they are capable of ending the US' military-industrial complex. But I think that defense spending is a red herring here.
  - pravinva 8y ago
    It was, but they certainly imaguned that they could influence a mega corporation who is not responsible for the problem
benhebert 8y ago
Everyone says Amazon, Amazon, Amazon but the head tax also would have affected every business doing $20mm/year like grocery, drug stores and even gasp Starbucks! Places where employees are definitely not making six figures on average. Plus government spending here like many other cities is not well managed. See bike lanes. See the fact that they fired Wells Fargo and then re-hired Wells Fargo because no one else would take their business. Homelessness is a real problem, but there needs to be more dialogue and better planning before rushing in and taxing growth. Probably a better idea to look at how the tax system is setup here to favor the wealthy versus low income.
- s2g 8y ago
  0.9% increase on a minimum wage salary. Just salary, not even the full cost of having an employee on staff. I just refuse to believe this is a massive burden on these businesses without numbers. People said the same stuff about the minimum wage increase. > Probably a better idea to look at how the tax system is setup here to favor the wealthy versus low income. They did and that's why they decided on this tax instead of yet more horribly regressive sales taxes. Washington has a god awful tax system. This is one of the options they had to get the money without squeezing the poor and middle class even more.

by fluxic 8y ago

JumpCrisscross 8y ago

> Amazon can't throw a $50 million peanut at the epidemic of homelessness ravaging their hometown This is an unfair framing. The tax did far more damage than impair Amazon's bottom line. Your complaint, moreover, could be leveled against every public service in the city. There are simply better ways to solve this problem. Seattle's government chose pot shots over progress.

fluxic 8y ago
Sure there are simply better ways, there are always better ways, and those better ways will be likewise crushed by the muscle at Amazon who make sure the company can extract as much value out of Seattle without having to pay its fair share in taxes.
- JumpCrisscross 8y ago
  > those better ways will be likewise crushed by the muscle at Amazon This tax was predominantly opposed by small business owners. (I think it was $25,000 donated by Amazon and close to $300,000 by small businesses.) The proposed tax was a flat payroll tax. That burdens lower-wage employees and employers much more than tech companies. There is perfect being the enemy of good, and then there is cutting off the nose to spite the face. This was the latter.
s2g 8y ago
> The tax did far more damage than impair Amazon's bottom line It really didn't though.

komali2 8y ago

Amazon is not the government. They don't have the expertise or even authority to tackle civic issues. I don't want them tackling civic issues because Amazon is a company. It is a profit algorithm in a capitalist system. Humans inside can steer it to Do Nice Things here and there but ultimately its lives because Profit. The government's ONLY job is to Do Nice Things (maintain nice status of life). Therefore, it is the government's failure to leverage its own powers to solve the homeless issue. Because it's a representative plutocratic democracy, the people are partially to blame as well, although class disparity is a major obstacle.

fluxic 8y ago
Your argument: 1. Amazon is not the government. 2. Amazon has no obligation to solve civic issues. 3. It is the government's job to solve civic issues. (The government tries to solve civic issues; Amazon uses its undue influence in Seattle to undermine the process.) 4. Ergo, it's all the government's fault.
- komali2 8y ago
  Attacking Amazon for operating within its constraints to maximize profit seems silly to me. It is programmed to do nothing else. I say instead, attack the concept of capitalism (infeasible) or fight the fight in the battleground of the political sphere - vote and openly support candidates that want money out of government. Yea, finding one is hard, I agree.
  - fluxic 8y ago
    I agree that it's insane to expect Amazon to behave differently than what's expected of a contemporary American corporation™ (aka: pure profit extraction, no consideration for local social conditions or the greater social contract.) But rather than accepting Amazon's mundane corporate naughtiness, we should be vigilant and outspoken about it. The corporate norms we have now in North America are not etched in stone; we can inveigh against shitty behaviour while also doing what you suggest: electing better politicians and pursuing fairer tax policy.
  - 8y ago

pravinva 8y ago

The US government spends 9 billion per DAY. Perhaps you could ask your elected representative if they could divert 0.1 percent of it towards this problem instead of on spending on bombing brown people in far away lands -you realize the US spends more on military than next 14 countries with larger populations combined

anothergoogler 8y ago
You exaggerate the reach of Seattle's city council if you think they are capable of ending the US' military-industrial complex. But I think that defense spending is a red herring here.
- pravinva 8y ago
  It was, but they certainly imaguned that they could influence a mega corporation who is not responsible for the problem

benhebert 8y ago

Everyone says Amazon, Amazon, Amazon but the head tax also would have affected every business doing $20mm/year like grocery, drug stores and even gasp Starbucks! Places where employees are definitely not making six figures on average. Plus government spending here like many other cities is not well managed. See bike lanes. See the fact that they fired Wells Fargo and then re-hired Wells Fargo because no one else would take their business. Homelessness is a real problem, but there needs to be more dialogue and better planning before rushing in and taxing growth. Probably a better idea to look at how the tax system is setup here to favor the wealthy versus low income.

s2g 8y ago
0.9% increase on a minimum wage salary. Just salary, not even the full cost of having an employee on staff. I just refuse to believe this is a massive burden on these businesses without numbers. People said the same stuff about the minimum wage increase. > Probably a better idea to look at how the tax system is setup here to favor the wealthy versus low income. They did and that's why they decided on this tax instead of yet more horribly regressive sales taxes. Washington has a god awful tax system. This is one of the options they had to get the money without squeezing the poor and middle class even more.