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I don't disagree with the sentiment, other than it seems you're somehow "blaming" Bezos for this. Why? The States has those socioeconomic issues for historical

by edanm 6y ago

I don't disagree with the sentiment, other than it seems you're somehow "blaming" Bezos for this. Why? The States has those socioeconomic issues for historical and political reasons. They're certainly something people can change. But Bezos' wealth, large as it is, is tiny compared to the wealth the government manages. The government's money is allocated via a democratic process. There's certainly good cases to be made for fixing a lot of issues - I just don't think those cases should start with "Bezos is too rich, while there are people in with serious issues". Better to just focus on the people with the issues and figure out ways to fix that.

brandon272 6y ago
My point really had nothing to do with Bezos in particular. He's one data point among hundreds of America's billionaires. And their collective wealth is by no means tiny. You're right in that the U.S. has socioeconomic issues for political reasons. But we can't disconnect the billionaire class from our political class. Billionaires have ridiculous, outsized influence over politicians and therefore public policy in the United States. And that influence ranges from crafting tax law that benefits them to modifying rules and regulations that given their businesses advantage. When wealthy people have tax law changed in their favor, we could charitably say that it is "indirectly" pulling money away from social programs that matter.