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Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

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Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#91
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle has one of the lowest amounts of sun per year of all metros in the USA. It selects for those who are serious about work, more than weather.

The weather isn't that bad here. It's overcast a lot and there are a lot of "rainy" days but it's usually a light mist or sprinkle. It rarely drops below freezing in the winter and the summers, while short, have long days and are quite dry. Maybe the bay area has better weather but I'd take Seattle weather over most of the US (Chicago, Austin, NY, DC, etc)

I will take my Southern Cali weather - 75 and sunny all year round.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#92
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

eh. But also filters people who are serious about work but also serious about their mental health. I know myself well enough to know that I am less productive when I don't get sunlight. I suspect many other people are the same.

The results of Seattle area companies beg to differ. I live in Seattle and I find that if I walk outdoors during the day at least once per day, I'm fine.

What does mental health of people living there have to do with the success of a few companies?

There are successful companies that eat their workers alive, employee happiness isn't related with their success in a lot of cases.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#93
post #84

Everytime I see these types of articles I wonder if we're still in feudalism. Should we really be celebrating that a single individual is worth more than hundreds of millions of people[1]? I dunno, it seems dystopian , like we're enslaved to the system. [1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/...

these people having so much means many aren't being paid.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#94

For all the hype Silicon Valley gets, the companies of the world's 2 richest people are in the Seattle area.

Seattle has one of the lowest amounts of sun per year of all metros in the USA. It selects for those who are serious about work, more than weather.

> It selects for those who are serious about work, more than weather.

Uhhh, Seattle, Portland, and the rest of the PNW have some of the most outdoorsy people in the country. We're less than 2 hours from the ocean or the mountains.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#95

For all the hype Silicon Valley gets, the companies of the world's 2 richest people are in the Seattle area.

If you count the number of billionaire, Palo Alto alone has 13 billionaires in a town of 66,000 people. It's ranked #25 on the list of cities with most billionaires and Seattle is not even on the list. https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilycanal/2016/03/09/the-citie...

and Palm Beach has 29 billionaires in a town of 10.5k people.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#96
post #87
post #84

Everytime I see these types of articles I wonder if we're still in feudalism. Should we really be celebrating that a single individual is worth more than hundreds of millions of people[1]? I dunno, it seems dystopian , like we're enslaved to the system. [1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/...

Absolutely. Did this person work more or does he have more merit than 100.000.000s of people? It's absurd.

Not saying that what you are implying is wrong, but empirically speaking working hard/relative merit do not correlate to proportionate monetary rewards in our current system. The idea of a pure meritocracy is an interesting one, I wonder what some of the outcomes would be.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#97
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming 27 years of 10% compounding is quite the leap.

Since 1990 (27 years ago) McDonald's has returned 10.87%, including the Internet Bubble and Subprime Mortgage crashes. March 30, 1990: $7.38 March 29, 2017: $128.84 I am not saying it'll be Bezos, but someone will get there within the next 2-3 decades. [edit] And while I'm at it, AMZN has returned 36%, annualized, over the last 10 years, encompassing the Subprime Mortgage crash.

That's also without accounting for inflation. Average USD inflation is something like 2.75% annually.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#98
post #87
post #84

Everytime I see these types of articles I wonder if we're still in feudalism. Should we really be celebrating that a single individual is worth more than hundreds of millions of people[1]? I dunno, it seems dystopian , like we're enslaved to the system. [1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/...

Absolutely. Did this person work more or does he have more merit than 100.000.000s of people? It's absurd.

But someone's got to be the hardest working and have the most merit... just like someone has to be the least hardest working and have the least merit.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#99
post #87
post #84

Everytime I see these types of articles I wonder if we're still in feudalism. Should we really be celebrating that a single individual is worth more than hundreds of millions of people[1]? I dunno, it seems dystopian , like we're enslaved to the system. [1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/...

Absolutely. Did this person work more or does he have more merit than 100.000.000s of people? It's absurd.

Perils of capitalism in it's absolute form. We celebrate these people for becoming rich and we will celebrate again for giving back their money like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

Re: Jeff Bezos Is Now the World's Second Richest Person

#100
post #84

Everytime I see these types of articles I wonder if we're still in feudalism. Should we really be celebrating that a single individual is worth more than hundreds of millions of people[1]? I dunno, it seems dystopian , like we're enslaved to the system. [1] https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/...

I think that's a little hyperbolic. In feudalism the balance of power is enforced by violence, whereas Jeff Bezos got rich because you gave him money in exchange for products. Like,

"Hey, here's this cool electronic device called the Amazon Echo for $50."

is a markedly different from

"Farm here or I'll decapitate you."

The fact that you harbor a resentment as if the former is anything like the latter is slightly terrifying.

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