6 ms·
Amazon Is Waging Class War
- mc32 8y agoAm I wrong in thinking that the election of progressives who were vocally against AMZ HQ2 in LIC the reason mentioned by AMZ as well as NY State gov't (Dem) officials including Cuomo[1]? And not only that but progressives claimed "Victory"[2] at the announced departure. So it's like Author is trying to blame Capital but Progressives are claiming victory themselves for the pullout --which is contra. Obviously AMZ was shifty in its (private) dealings with State officials, but you don't cut your nose to spite your face as progressives did. This quote is fascinating and I think is indicative of the myopia in the article: "...Capital strikes we look at cases directed against leftist governments in weak and poor countries of the "global south". Capitalists stopped investing in Venezuela the minute Hugo Chavez became president..." I think they began pulling out because he confiscated and nationalized companies and industries. Also, VZ was the richest country in the South American continent --not the "poor" country, at the time they claim. Chavez and his pals made it poor. [1]https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2019/02/cuomo-blames-other-dems-for-amazon-exit-as-aoc-celebrates.html https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2019/02/cuomo-blames-other... [2]https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-new-york-politics/as-amazon-drops-new-york-city-project-progressives-claim-a-major-coup-idUSKCN1Q332P https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-new-york-polit...
- gamblor956 8y agoYou're trying to make it a "progessive" or "Democratic" thing when it was really an anti-gentrification thing. After all, North Virginia is heavily Democratic and they welcomed Amazon with open arms. Amazon's existing officials are nearly all in heavily Democratic cities, and Seattle, it's HQ, is one of the most progressive cities in the US. Queens and Long Island did not need Amazon HQ2 in the neighborhood that Amazon wanted to put HQ2. It would have ruined traffic and driven up housing prices for the 99% of residents who wouldn't work at Amazon, and the tax credits would have resulted in a net tax loss because the tax credits would have far exceeded the expected tax revenue from the net jobs Amazon would have created in that neighborhood (compared to the jobs that would have been created if Amazon did not move there). VZ was the richest country in the South American continent --not the "poor" country, at the time they claim This was the result of cronyism and vote-buying political programs. Like what the Trump administration is trying to doing right now...Communism and socialism had very little to do with it; after all, most Scandinavian nations have extremely socialist policies, and China, Cuba, and Vietnam have been doing fine and even thriving despite being Communist nations.
- mc32 8y agoIt wasn't a Dem thing, it was a progressive thing. Cuomo, DeBlasio, et al are Dems. They clamored and campaigned for it. It was the new Progs who killed it. AMZ didn't stick it to NYC/NYS so much as the new Progs actively killed it (Read what Cuomo has said). VZ: Author claims it was poor. It was rich prior to Chavez, regardless if he and the state were true Communists or fakers loved by Bernie. According to this polling[1], there was strong support across the board in NYC, and Queens in particular for HQ2. [1]https://harrisx.com/2019/02/new-poll-shows-overwhelming-support-among-new-yorkers-and-queens-residents-for-amazons-new-headquarters/ https://harrisx.com/2019/02/new-poll-shows-overwhelming-supp...
- 49531 8y agoI lived in seattle during the city council’s employment tax. It was wild how many canvassing yuppies amazon had on the streets trying to get folks to sign their petition.