16 ms·
I dont't care if this is a PR stint to ward of recent criticism Bezos is getting from Bernie et al but if this fund goes and actually help and make a real life
by CodeSheikh 8y ago
I dont't care if this is a PR stint to ward of recent criticism Bezos is getting from Bernie et al but if this fund goes and actually help and make a real life impact on the lives of homeless people, then I am fine and I will hold back my criticism of Amazon. I mean clearly I have not done enough to mitigate homelessness in this country who am I to question others motives trying to solve the same problem?
- staticautomatic 8y agoBad actors must be held to account even if they occasionally do good things. I see no compelling reason to withhold criticism of Amazon because of this.
- icelancer 8y agoThe reverse is true as well. It would apparently kill people to admit that giving two billion dollars to something like this is an act of good faith because their judgment is so clouded by hate.
- staticautomatic 8y agoWhether or not it was done in good faith is irrelevant because it does not and cannot compensate for the harm Amazon/Bezos has caused.
- icelancer 8y agoRight, Amazon is purely net negative. Billions of dollars of wealth, the vast majority created on the backs of laborers via exploitation the world 'round. I get the shtick. I hear it enough. It's not true, but it's a good story. Plays well on social media. The world is almost certainly better off with Amazon existing than without, even if they do some heinous stuff.
- staticautomatic 8y agoSuffice it to say you're demonstrably incorrect.
- icelancer 8y agoFunny, I think that about your opinion. Which is what both of our statements are, except that I actually admit it while you and others assert it as fact.
- staticautomatic 8y agoI am making an assertion of fact. If you refuse to treat it as such, that's on you.
- icelancer 8y agoI believe that you believe that.
- staticautomatic 8y agoThen you won't mind explaining why it's not an assertion of fact...
- capdeck 8y agoLooks like this was cheaper than upping the salaries of warehouse workers to get them off food stamps and provide healthcare. For Bezos this is just another calculation, nothing more.
- CodeSheikh 8y agoAnother problem for another thread. This will not silence the critics of salary issues at Aamzon warehouse. Give it a few weeks and you will read it for yourself in the news.
- ericd 8y agoOne would be using Amazon's money and would affect Amazon's ability to continue growing and employing more people, the other is using Bezos' money, and does not, except by maybe affecting the share price as he sells more of his holdings. They're not the same thing.
- noisy_boy 8y agoIf that is the case, nothing stops him from creating a Bezos Amazon foundation and making every Amazon employee below a certain salary threshold eligible for grants/help etc etc. With all the accounting jugglery they have access to, I'm sure there are multiple ways to making the employees financially happier while satisfying the shareholders thirst for squeezing the last drop from the last penny.
- ericd 8y agoI've never heard of any precedent, do you know of one? In any case, why should Bezos use his personal money to improve Amazon workers' salaries vs. trying to fix a problem for needier people who don't have a job at all? Or trying to make humanity a space faring species (which he spends $1B/year on, IIRC)?
- noisy_boy 8y agoWhy should there be expectation of precedent? Isn't he supposed to be a pioneer (like doing things such as trying to make humanity a space faring species)? Also, charity begins at home and Amazon is his home.
- naibafo 8y agoI think criticism of Amazon is still fair, criticizing Bezos personally is something different.
- zouhair 8y agoGreat, this is just the revival of the charity of feudal masters. Things now are so dire that charity became more than needed. Your comment is proof that it is a good way to clean one's reputation even if you do horrible things in a daily basis.
- fjsolwmv 8y agoBezos could fight a lot of homelessness directly by paying his warehouse workers a decent wage.
- jasaloo 8y ago"...but if this fund goes and actually help and make a real life impact on the lives of homeless people, then I am fine and I will hold back my criticism of Amazon." That's precisely what Bezos is going for here. I feel you though... I'm glad something is being done. But let's keep criticizing Amazon as an exploitative enterprise. And let's keep criticizing the homelessness crisis as a systemic issue which needs a systemic solution, not just a bone thrown from the table of the world's richest person.
- perfunctory 8y ago> I mean clearly I have not done enough to mitigate homelessness in this country Don't know your situation but assuming you are not on the Forbes billionaires list you probably pay higher tax rate than Bezos. In that sense you did do something to mitigate homelessness.
- Shivetya 8y agoit isn't like Bernie has been all the successful in doing much about it anyway. Most Washington politicians only remember the homeless come election time. They are but a foil to use on the other guy, a sound bite, and not much more. The same is true of many local politicians. They have political links to activist groups in their area who they steer funding in return for support during elections and also for intimidating developers into contributing to them. this is not a problem that could not have been solved it is a problem that solving is not an actual goal but a means to continue the gravy train and perpetual power lock.
- cyborgx7 8y agoIt's not his money to use this way. He stole it from the workers he underpaid.
- aeternus 8y agoThe workers gained an additional job opportunity because of him, one that was likely better than all other options they had at the time (or else why would they accept?) He also has made goods generally cheaper and much more easily accessible to the world.