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It's time Amazon played by the same rules as everyone else [video]
- pandanube 2mo agoThis guy cant stop winning, can we clone him and get one for each state?
- slackfan 2mo ago[flagged]
- jasonlotito 2mo agoThe irony.
- runako 2mo agoIs that because he's filling potholes, or because rich NYC residents are paying slightly less in tax than they did in 1994?
- toomuchtodo 2mo agoIf this is what Post imperial Russia looked like, sign me up comrade. We tried to hyper individualistic capitalism, and that failed unless your the very top of wealth pyramid. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. I’m supposed to be afraid of socialists but not authoritarian technofeudalism paperclip maximizers? If both scenarios are “you’ll own nothing an be happy,” I’ll take the system where someone actually tries to make their constituents happy. You can’t scare people who realize we’re already at rock bottom. People who are delusional and think they are temporarily embarrassed millionaires and billionaires are always a lost cause, they are in a cult or belief system similar to a religion.
- slackfan 2mo agoModern communists are such reactionaries that they can't even see the value in decimating the petite-bourgeoisie population. Sad.
- toomuchtodo 2mo agoI cannot speak to communists, I currently align with democratic socialists and max out campaign contributions to those candidates. Some capitalism, but not too much, and a firm floor under everyone. I am wealthy because I was lucky. Existence is non consensual, no one asked to be here. One should not suffer through their existence because they were unlucky.
- philipallstar 2mo ago> and max out campaign contributions to those candidates But why bother? Those candidates will only be successful if they're lucky.
- toomuchtodo 2mo agoBecause you can’t attempt to win if you don’t buy the lottery ticket. Just like a founder who spends years of their life grinding for a startup that will most likely fail, I’m just throwing some money into the ring to attempt to encourage a successful outcome. Success is never assured. "A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." You may ask: "Why are these lottery tickets and wins important at this point on the timeline?" That is a very important question. Democratic socialists top MAGA candidates among voters in CNBC’s All-America poll - https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/17/democratic-socialists-top-maga-candidates-all-america-poll.html https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/17/democratic-socialists-top-ma... - July 17, 2026 > The results indicate that even with a number of self-described democratic socialists on the ballot, Democrats will have the upper hand heading into November’s midterm election, which is widely viewed as a referendum on Trump. It also suggests voters are warming to the idea of a more muscular federal government that provides additional services in exchange for higher taxes. The poll found that 32% of registered voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate if they describe themselves as a democratic socialist, while 50% would be less likely to vote for such a candidate. Twenty-nine percent of voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate with Trump’s endorsement, while 52% would be less likely. A candidate who describes themself as a supporter of the MAGA movement does even worse, with only 27% of voters saying that would make them more likely to vote for them and 57% saying it would make their vote less likely. Capitalism remains more popular than socialism in the U.S., the poll found, but has declined in public sentiment in recent years as socialism has gained. Twenty-eight percent of registered voters polled viewed socialism positively, a leap up from 18% in 2024. Fifty percent of registered voters viewed capitalism positively, little changed from 51% in 2024. Forty-eight percent of voters viewed socialism negatively, while 27% viewed capitalism negatively in the poll released Friday. Voters aged 18-34 preferred socialism by a margin of 18% points, while older age demographics preferred capitalism. That could reshape the electorate in the future. Or today’s younger voters could evolve their preferences as they age. > “If these current attitudes were to persist over time, and the 18-49 year-olds of today were going to keep those types of attitudes, we’re going to have a seismic shift in terms of the national conversation and economic policy prescriptions that we see coming out of Congress and different places over time,” said Micah Roberts, a partner at Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for the survey. “The attitudes of 18-34 year-olds today are the reality of our country in 20 years.” [My note: Draw your attention here, it is the most important fact when thinking in the context of this system.] > Voters polled did not believe some form of socialism would be a good idea for the country, but by an extremely narrow margin. Forty-four percent of voters polled said some form of socialism would be a bad thing, while 40% said it would be a good thing — winnowing the gap by half from the last time it was polled. In a 2019 Gallup poll, 43% of adults viewed socialism as a good thing and 51% viewed it as a bad thing. [My note: extremely narrow margins on ideas can potentially be changed rapidly with some effort] TLDR We are at a political tipping point due to demographics in the electorate, and if Democratic Socialists win and show they can deliver (as Mamdani is doing in NYC), it will lock in a positive uptake trajectory for them for at least 1-2 decades ahead. ~2M voters 55+ age out every year, and they are the ones with strong positive beliefs about capitalism (because they were lucky and had a positive experience within the golden age of US economics that will never repeat). 70+ age cohort owns 1/3rd of wealth. Progress occurs one funeral at a time (Max Planck). Young people may not be wealthy, and will likely never be wealthy, but they all get their vote. https://www.apolloacademy.com/31-percent-of-wealth-owned-by-people-over-70/ https://www.apolloacademy.com/31-percent-of-wealth-owned-by-...
- noir_lord 2mo agoWell you have the Tsar surrounded by his court and a rich elite completely out of touch with what is happening to the average person in the US so you have similar conditions (not really though, panem et circenses will apply until it doesn't and there is a lot more bread yet plus some more UFC matches can be arranged in what was a rose garden so the circus is covered as well).
- christkv 2mo agoDistractions from running the city I guess. The massive economic black hole they are facing is not something to put the focus on.
- dylan604 2mo agoAs someone from another state, it's amusing how the mayor of a city has more clout than governor of the state.
- manphone 2mo agoLook at the mayor of London. Same shit, different city.
- bena 2mo agoNew York City has a greater population than 38 states. Why should the governor of South Dakota (pop 935,094) have more clout than the mayor of New York City (pop 8,804,190)?
- dylan604 2mo agoI said the governor of the state, not a state. Why you jumped to some inane example that has nothing to do with the conversation is beyond me. By definition, the governor of NY is responsible for more people than the mayor of NYC, yet more people are familiar with the mayor and might not even be able to name the governor.
- bena 2mo agoFair enough, I missed the exact article used. However, in that case, it's just a matter of delegation. When one city dominates the state, it will dominate everything about that state. So unless the governor of New York wants to spend most of their time handling New York City problems, it's best for them to let the mayor sort that.
- gruez 2mo agoProgressives love to point out how popular their candidates are but fail to realize they're in a filter bubble that doesn't reflect the wider electorate. They were jubilant when al-Sayed won, but betting market odds for democrats winning dropped as a result.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- malfist 2mo agoAnd we all know that gamblers and betting odds always are correct.
- gruez 2mo agoThey might not be prefect but they have a better track record than social media commentators. If you were going by the sentiment on HN or reddit, you'd thought Kamala would have won by a landslide.
- Obscurity4340 2mo agoIt would be great if it becane profitable to elect Democratic socialist candidates
- richwater 2mo agoAnyone can balance a budget by just delaying pension contributions. It's not impressive. What happens next year?
- DangitBobby 2mo agoYou'd think so but it turns out doing the bare minimum is actually impressive.
- richwater 2mo agoWhy are we applauding under-funding the public pension system for temporary TikTok points? If that's folks' definition of bare minimum the city is in for a lot of pain.
- DangitBobby 2mo agoI'm sure this is the one criticism among the millions that actually lands at his feet. Edit: Surprise surprise, it wasn't. See other comment.
- DangitBobby 2mo agoSounds like he's restructuring a payment plan that was already designed to push the pain into the future. Who knows if it will have been better to stave off the near term pain or let the financial time bomb set decades ago tie his hands. > Delaying payments of the city’s full pension obligation until 2037 from 2032 would save the city nearly $2.3 billion in the next two years, Mamdani said, without affecting retiree benefits. The reamortization schedule alters the original amortization plan constructed in 2010 that had the city pay higher amounts of its pension debt each year until the Fiscal Year 2032 cliff, at which point the entire obligation would be erased from the city’s books. > Under Mamdani’s new plan, which will need approval from state lawmakers by June 30, the city would pay a similar amount each year until FY32 when it would decrease year over year for the final half-decade of payments. > “If you look at the payment schedule that was initially agreed upon from 2010 to 2032, it's a payment that increases every single year, increasing upwards of $6 billion by the final year before then dropping like a cliff down to $0,” Mamdani said on May 12. “What we are proposing is extending that cycle by five years, and that is an extension that would ensure that we would pay the same amount every single year as opposed to what is currently a variable amount increasing year after year.” > Pension experts have previously warned the city against executing a reamoritzation plan, arguing that it was a short-term fix that would saddle the city with big costs in the 2030’s. But Andrew Perry, director of fiscal research at the Fiscal Policy Institute, a finance think tank, argued in a blog post that the current amortization schedule is “poorly designed” — due to the escalating payments and dropoff in 2032 — and said Mamdani’s new plan is an “act of prudent fiscal management.” > Ken Giardin, a fellow at the conservative Manhattan institute, argued the opposite, saying that the payment plan relies on the city’s five pension systems that “are hardly models of fiscal health," continuing to pump out positive returns. > “The entire reason we're talking about the unfunded accrued liability is because the systems made excessively optimistic assumptions in the past—that's why NYC will already be paying off decades-old debt in the 2030s,” he said. "Mark your calendar for 2032, when city [politicians] will be wishing they hadn't done this.” https://thechiefleader.com/stories/through-state-funding-new-tax-pension-payment-restructuring-mamdani-balances-budget,56625?hl=en-US https://thechiefleader.com/stories/through-state-funding-new...
- RGS1811 2mo agoDemocracy depends on public education about policy needs, not just electoral fundraising and stupid campaign ads. This video is a brilliant piece of political rhetoric, because it says “here’s an issue you should care about”, gets a little technical in ways normal people can understand, and then says “hey we want to do something to fix this, please join us in this effort”. It’s upbeat, it’s rational. It’s so good.
- figmert 2mo agoI think if one thing Mamdani is great at, it's that he's a great marketer. His brand is just so much better than any candidate I've seen in the US. Heck even in the UK to be honest.
- gruez 2mo ago>I think if one thing Mamdani is great at, it's that he's a great marketer. His brand is just so much better than any candidate You could say the same about Trump, and no, this is not supposed to be a compliment.
- disgruntledphd2 2mo ago> You could say the same about Trump, and no, this is not supposed to be a compliment. That's true, both Mamdani and Trump are very effective politicians. One can disagree with either or both of their positions, but that doesn't mean that they're not good at it.
- Obscurity4340 2mo agoI was gobsmacked when Trump was gushing about Mamdani, must have done a real number on him
- disgruntledphd2 2mo agoTrump is wildly inconsistent, and his policies are mostly (apparently) driven by personality, so it wasn't that much of a surprise to me.
- slicktux 2mo agoHonest question; it’s not Amazon that requires them to wear an Amazon vest but rather their contractor. Amazon may set the route but they don’t pay them to run the route. This should be interesting from a legal perspective.
- figmert 2mo agoIt's obviously Amazon that requires them to wear the vest. Just because the contractor they work for enforces it doesn't, doesn't mean it's not Amazon requiring it.
- slicktux 2mo agoThat’s a rather splenetic response. On paper their contractor requires them to run an Amazon route and wear Amazon logo. Therefore, it’s not Amazon. I’m asking honest question that any court law will ask; cynicism is not part of the scales in court but rather objectivity.
- DangitBobby 2mo agoThis is why they want to fix the paper to say Amazon is making them do it.
- ncallaway 2mo agoDoes Amazon require the contractor to have the contractors drivers wear Amazon branded vests? What if the DSP is a single-person company? Then the DSP and the driver are the same person. In that case, is it Amazon or the DSP requiring the driver to wear Amazon livery?
- stackskipton 2mo agoAmazon may require the subcontractor wears the Amazon vest in contract with subcontractor. That's whole point, they appear to be Amazon employees in every way except for paycheck the employee receives and small lettering on the bottom of the car compared to big "AMAZON" lettering on the side. This matters if they do something and you go to sue them. All of sudden, you find out it's tiny company with only 1Million in assets and crappy insurance after they crash into a bus and cause brain damage. (https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15983591/teenager-life-ruined-Amazon-delivery-driver-crash-lawsuit.html https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15983591/teenager-lif...)
- jtbayly 2mo agoBut… what does it do?! I’m all about holding Amazon to the same standards, but what precisely does this accomplish? The subcontracting delivery companies already have to follow the same laws as every other company, don’t they?
- tptacek 2mo agoIt requires Amazon to directly employ delivery drivers in New York City and sets up a licensing scheme for last-mile delivery.
- dartharva 2mo agoIsn't that.. worse? Putting local businesses out of jobs and instead consolidating all of them directly under the company's umbrella?
- dannyphantom 2mo agoIt would probably make the most sense for Amazon to scale out their on-road infra as drone delivery capacity (and much more slowly, the regulatory environment) is hammered out but I’m personally leaning towards the org going for a more practical response that ends up routing most packages through USPS instead.
- stvltvs 2mo agoAre these really local businesses or are they employees forced to take on liability as a condition of employment? Tech has been mislabeling employees as independent contractors for years.
- stackskipton 2mo agoThe act basically makes Amazon responsible for these subcontractors. BTW, they are not only ones who do this, UPS and Fedex have similar setups. The problem here is Amazon farms out delivery to these companies, set impossible delivery standards that require these subcontractor employees to do things that break the law OR cause damage to their health. However, since Amazon is technically not employing them, they have no liability.
- EugeneG 2mo agoHonest question: what are the actual concrete issues where Amazon is shirking responsibility they would have otherwise had? Was there a specific court case where Amazon didn't pay what it would have otherwise? A workplace injury that would have been covered but otherwise wasn't? If these exist, are they systemic - i.e., does it happen more often here than it does with UPS or FedEx delivery workers? There are insinuations here, and a good video, but it would be good to have actual examples and then an actual demonstration of a pattern of harm, before we introduce new rules that are likely going to make deliveries more expensive. I understand that a YouTube video isn't a policy document... and I don't expect it to have all of these things. But as a citizen, I do expect - that somewhere - there should be an actual policy document that outlines the facts.
- philipallstar 2mo agoI think you're asking the wrong questions of someone like this. The point is to get power, to make sure you are well looked after. Give him more power to make your life better.
- Xirdus 2mo agoThe actual problem is not that Amazon breaks any rules, but that the rules are so soft that even Amazon doesn't break them. But explaining it to an average worker doesn't work. Blaming specific companies and specific billionaires for systemic problems works much better for building support - that's why the politician in the video does the latter.
- EugeneG 2mo agoOk but I expect more from my government than "here's youtube video; trust me bro - you're an average worker, you won't get it"
- Xirdus 2mo agoWhy do you expect politicians to be suboptimal at the job of a politician (gaining support)? This kind of "trust me bro" video is exactly what a perfectly spherical politician in a vacuum should be coming up with. If you don't want politicians in the government, stop voting for them!
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- novia 2mo agoContractors get paid less and don't get the same benefits as a full Amazon employee. It makes sense for NYC to push for them to be recognized as employees. It also makes sense for Amazon to push hard into drone delivery for NYC as a response, which I also support.
- throw7 2mo agoSo the subcontractor is "avoiding regulations" (which are what btw?) by being a "subcontractor" and NYC can do nothing about the "subcontractors" but get rid of "subcontractors"?
- bena 2mo agoPart of the problem is that sometimes the subcontractors are small enough to play by different rules. Or they don't have the means to support the staff when things go sideways. Or sometimes they're independent drivers, in which case the drivers themselves are responsible for the vehicle and any accidents, etc. The subcontractors can just fold as well, leaving drivers in the lurch. However, Amazon gets to dictate everything else about the job. The subcontractors have no authority or autonomy, but are made responsible for the heavier costs of the process. Amazon wants to have an employer-relationship when it comes to dictating terms, but a contractor-relationship when it comes time to giving benefits or resolving disputes.
- trolleski 2mo agoPlay by the rules? Are you mad, you can loose that way!
- __alexs 2mo agoThis video really deserves a better soundtrack.
- podgietaru 2mo agoI'm surprised to see so much of the rhetoric here being about what the concrete difference is... It is relatively easy to look that up, no? As far as I can see from a literal 5 second google search: - Liability for Injury at work is no longer on Amazon - Liability for injuries caused by Amazon workers get shifted to the Worker, rather than Amazon (despite the fact that some of the conditions leading to that may come from Amazon themselves) - It is harder to negotiate, as Amazon's official position is that "They do not work for us" - It is easier to stop employment of sub-contractors. The video already mentions this, but the idea of sub-contracting is that you are responsible for your own hours, routes, etc. This is clearly not the case for these workers.
- EugeneG 2mo agoDon't we already have workers comp insurance laws? Other forms of liability insurance? Doesn't Amazon carry the same insurance if it's the one doing the delivery directly? Do we think levels of this insurance is insufficient in general and should be higher? Bottom line - just because Amazon doesn't directly have this liability - it doesn't mean nobody has this liability - the sub contractors do. And if they do, they need to pay for the insurance, and if they pay for the insurance, then Amazon has to pay them more to pay for this insurance. So the real question is... what concrete harm/problem are we solving for that isn't already solved for today.
- podgietaru 2mo agoI'd love to live in a world where companies compensate people correctly for the extra liability they're forced to take on. But my question for you is: Why do you think Amazon do this if it's not to specifically side track the exact things that I listed? If they were just paying the sub-contractor directly for that insurance? What would be the point.
- EugeneG 2mo agoThere are existing laws/regs: Workers comp: "Workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory for most employers of one or more employees." https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Employers/workers-compensation-insurance.jsp https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Employers/workers-compen... See NY State minimums here: https://www.geico.com/commercial-auto-insurance/states/ny/ https://www.geico.com/commercial-auto-insurance/states/ny/ And also Amazon requires insurance: Amazon Delivery Service Partners (DSPs) must independently secure and maintain comprehensive commercial insurance. Amazon does not provide this coverage for subcontractors. Required policies typically include $1M+ auto and general liability, workers' compensation, and cargo protection, with Amazon explicitly named as an additional insured.
- FatherOfCurses 2mo agoAmazing the number of people on HN who will simp for Jeff Bezos.
- StilesCrisis 2mo agoMan, Amazon is astroturfing the hell out of the comments here. They're scared of this one.
- EugeneG 2mo ago"if people disagree with me, it's a conspiracy"
- StilesCrisis 2mo agoIt's a different level of discourse--whataboutism and deflection--that tells the tale. Your comment too: it's glib and dismissive, refusing to engage seriously.
- EugeneG 2mo agoI wrote like 10 comments that engaged seriously in this discussion... and haven't really gotten much back except comments that allude to conspiracy. There are people who start with "of course Amazon is evil and they just want to do evil things" and work backwards from there... I tend to start from a different direction of "I get packages quickly, and it's huge value add to my life; lots of people have good paying jobs delivering these packages - and lots of new small businesses started up to do this last mile delivery - and that's good" ...... and if you start there, then I'm just more skeptical of random new laws to fix something where nobody has made a concrete case for actual, real life harm that exists today... my view is that the burden is on the people making up new rules to show their rules are solving concrete actual harms... not just hand wave and say "well obviously Amazon's a [evil scare tone] TRILLION DOLLAR COMPANY" and let that be the end of the argument
- StilesCrisis 2mo agoIf there is no real-life harm, then it should be net-neutral to roll these trucks back under the Amazon corporation directly, and no reason to push back on it.
- ptaffs 2mo agoWe might expect the politicians to legislate against this, please at the same time, if you can, spend your money with better companies.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 2mo agoPerhaps of interest 1785864306 | NJ files antitrust lawsuit against Amazon over delivery contractor control | https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/nj-amazon-antitrust-lawsuit-delivery-contractors.html https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/04/nj-amazon-antitrust-lawsuit-... | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49172003 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49172003
- theminor 1mo agoI completely agree with the conclusions and I support this; however, I have to say, this issue is a tale as old as time. The old independent contractor vs. employee debate has been raging for decades. It certainly isn't unique to Amazon and Amazon won't be the last company we debate this about. This is a particularly egregious example, yes, but it is a wider problem than just Amazon.