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the wealth-hoarders are interfering with this...

by fnord77 6y ago

missedthecue 6y ago
How does one hoard wealth? Am I made poorer because Bezos owns 9% of his own company?
- AlexandrB 6y ago
  His workers are poorer because his company's enormous valuation comes from the surplus value they produce but do not receive as compensation. You might be poorer if you own a small business those workers would frequent if they had more money. Edit: You might also be poorer if you tried to compete with Amazon and were crushed like a bug by their anti-competitive practices.
  - colinmhayes 6y ago
    Labor theory of value lmao. Amazon workers are richer because they've been given an opportunity they otherwise wouldn't have. If they could have a better job they'd take it.
    - fnord77 6y ago
      trickle down economics!
  - imtringued 6y ago
    Wrong mode of thinking. The problem is that there aren't enough alternatives. If you want an economy that is fair for workers then you need more jobs per worker so the worker can choose the best offer. That also means you want more employers, including the Jeff Bezos types.
    - eggsmediumrare 6y ago
      Would this not apply to industries with lots of competition like restaurants or hotels?
  - chordalkeyboard 6y ago
    How about his workers are richer because they receive a portion of the value they produce, because by combining their labor with Amazon’s capital they can produce vastly more value than without it; and if people didn’t get their share of value from producing and renting out capital they wouldn’t do it and there wouldn’t be any capital to use.
- ben_w 6y ago
  Sorta. Wealth like that is control and power, and while governments theoretically have absolute power over business, actually using those powers can break things. If the government owned the same shares, you would have slightly more direct control over what Amazon does in practice. Probably. Perhaps.
- m___ 6y ago
  Yes you are, very much so, a multiplication of what you yourself could theoretically approach in a life-time.

the wealth-hoarders are interfering with this...

missedthecue 6y ago

How does one hoard wealth? Am I made poorer because Bezos owns 9% of his own company?

AlexandrB 6y ago
His workers are poorer because his company's enormous valuation comes from the surplus value they produce but do not receive as compensation. You might be poorer if you own a small business those workers would frequent if they had more money. Edit: You might also be poorer if you tried to compete with Amazon and were crushed like a bug by their anti-competitive practices.
- colinmhayes 6y ago
  Labor theory of value lmao. Amazon workers are richer because they've been given an opportunity they otherwise wouldn't have. If they could have a better job they'd take it.
  - fnord77 6y ago
    trickle down economics!
- imtringued 6y ago
  Wrong mode of thinking. The problem is that there aren't enough alternatives. If you want an economy that is fair for workers then you need more jobs per worker so the worker can choose the best offer. That also means you want more employers, including the Jeff Bezos types.
  - eggsmediumrare 6y ago
    Would this not apply to industries with lots of competition like restaurants or hotels?
- chordalkeyboard 6y ago
  How about his workers are richer because they receive a portion of the value they produce, because by combining their labor with Amazon’s capital they can produce vastly more value than without it; and if people didn’t get their share of value from producing and renting out capital they wouldn’t do it and there wouldn’t be any capital to use.
ben_w 6y ago
Sorta. Wealth like that is control and power, and while governments theoretically have absolute power over business, actually using those powers can break things. If the government owned the same shares, you would have slightly more direct control over what Amazon does in practice. Probably. Perhaps.
m___ 6y ago
Yes you are, very much so, a multiplication of what you yourself could theoretically approach in a life-time.