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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

#321

Post by 824ueirwfjd »

archagon wrote: post #245
mjfl wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 terr…

Gave money to Amazon, which funneled it to a single individual. I think in a perfect society, this sort of cash flow would be severely tempered.

> I think in a perfect society, this sort of cash flow would be severely tempered.

The problem is if we had your society, there would be no Jeff Bezos or similar capitalistic-minded entrepreneurs to create these mega companies in the first place. Remember it started out small.

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

#322

Post by thinkling »

zaroth wrote: post #194
kyleblarson wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should start a company, grow it to a multi billion dollar market cap, and give away your generated wealth.

That's pretty much exactly what Jeff will end up doing. He can either give it away or the government will take more than half of it. Unless he manages to crack that whole mortality thing.

Many other multi-billionaires in the US have signed the Giving Pledge [0], promising to give away more than half of their net worth to charity. Gates, Paul Allen, Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Benioff, Michael Bloomberg have all signed. Even Larry Ellison! But not (yet) Jeff Bezos, or for that matter Sergei Brin or Larry Page.

[0] https://givingpledge.org/

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

#323

Post by dredmorbius »

carapace wrote: post #305
dredmorbius wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes! https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waltwhitma132584...

(You dropped a clause.)

I contradict myself and mis-quote Whitman.

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

#324

Post by archagon »

824ueirwfjd wrote: post #321
archagon wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gave money to Amazon, which funneled it to a single individual. I think in a perfect society, this sort of cash flow would be severely tempered.

> I think in a perfect society, this sort of cash flow would be severely tempered. The problem is if we had your society, there would be no Jeff Bezos or similar capitalistic-minded entrepreneurs to create these mega companies in the first place. Remember it started out small.

I think most of the big players today would have started out just the same. People like Jobs & Woz, Page & Brin, Bezos, and Musk didn't get in the game to make billions, at least at first. They wanted to change the world, or maybe pursue an interesting opening, or perhaps chase after a fascinating new technology. In a more equal society, these instincts would hardly be curtailed.

And even if you're right, maybe a world without mega-companies wouldn't be such a bad place after all?

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

#325

Post by thinkling »

dkrich wrote: post #281
ricardo_piano wrote: post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon already went through 2 downturns. Dot com bubble and the last recession. During the recession they faired extremely well. they've been facing tough competition from Walmart since the late 90s. Alibaba is still miles away from competing in the same areas as Amazon although that will change with time. For now, if you're a consumer, aliexpress is only good for buying cheap low quality items. If there's something…

The difference to me is the valuation- during previous downturns they weren't trading at a $400 billion market cap. I think a lot of people assume that because they're amazon that they'll crack the last mile delivery problem, a problem that FedEx and ups, two exceedingly smart and successful and well run companies have not, not to mention the usps. FedEx and UPS want no part of last mile delivery because there's no m…

Not having net profits does not mean that parts of your business are not profitable.

You may want to take a closer look at Amazon's financials and see what kind of free cash flow they're generating before they reinvest that cash in expansion and new businesses. Net operating cash flow for 2016 was $16B and the trend is strongly upwards.

https://secure.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/AMZN/financia...

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

#326

Post by stdbrouw »

mjfl wrote: post #100
_m8fo wrote: 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 terr…

You might still wonder whether, insofar as modern society works due to a sort of non-aggression pact, all of us are getting the same benefits from that pact.

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

#327

Post by nuane »

dkrich wrote: post #255

I know that I'll get skewered for this, but here goes: recently I've convinced myself we are on the verge of a very serious Amazon stock correction. Just today I saw three separate articles (without seeking them out) giving umpteen reasons Amazon is going to a trillion, or that Amazon is only getting started. Then I turned on CNBC during lunch and what are they talking about? Amazon. There's simply too much positive…

My understanding is that Amazon makes their money from aws, then builds their brand through their eCommerce site and other gadgets/projects. Those projects (like aws) have the potential to make bucko bucks, but as long as Americans income continues to diminish, the profitability of Amazon's core business will stall.

But I agree that Amazon will become the first $1 trillion dollar enterprise, but after weathering another economic downturn. Amazon is the Walmart of today, and is ruthlessly out competing every retailer (retail is in a recessive state, and I'm wondering what happens when SEARS goes under).

To throw a curve ball back, I do think Amazon is politically vulnerable. I don't shop with Amazon, and I tell everyone not to shop at Amazon. The company doesn't treat their average employees well, and should allow all their workers to form and join a union if they want. USPS is a great place to work, FedEx and USPS are pretty great too, Amazon is a garbage place to work---

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

#329

Post by whazor »

mjfl wrote: post #100
_m8fo wrote: 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 terr…

Still, it could have been 10 or 100 rich people instead of just one.

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

#330

Post by krzat »

milesrout wrote: post #246
mjfl wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But that's not the important part. The violence is the important part. Feudalism wasn't unjust because the kings had a lot of money, it was unjust because they got a lot of money through force and not through productive economic activity. Also, I think it is extremely problematic to compare any system with large disparities of outcome with an essentially violent system like feudalism (or just defining "inequality = v…

Capitalism is inherently violent whether you like it or not. The police violently repress anyone seeking what they have a natural right to: their fair share of the wealth.

Humanity is inherently violent.
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