Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#151

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

lev99 wrote: post #148

NeonVice wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is Amazon creating more homeless people?

Increasing home prices in Seattle, where the median rent is $2,400 [0]. By bringing in people from out of state with high salaries Amazon is making the housing market in Seattle much more expensive as more people compete for a mostly static stock of housing. Zoning laws, mandatory parking, improved public transportation, affordable housing regulations, and new development could all improve the current situation so lo…

Might be hard to do all those things you're proposing when Amazon has tremendous resources to mobilize against any proposed tax.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#152

Post by DoreenMichele » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

gammateam wrote: post #123

dbatten wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given that Bezos envisions, for example, creating a network of preschools in low-income areas, I'd say he's at least thinking about helping people get out of cyclical poverty. Still, I'd also like to see Amazon pay its employees better...

so the one person that reads the article gets down-voted to oblivion, thanks for taking the fall mate! Your altruism will not go unnoticed I was going to comment about the preschools and how that idea came from ideas solicited by the public because everyone was just assuming it was just arbitrary helicopter money exclusively for PR

I've read the article. I've also had a college class on Homelessness and Public Policy. I spent nearly 6 years homeless and got myself off the street without going through a program. The programs are often revolving doors that don't really fix the intractable personal problems that are a root cause of homelessness.

The other two big issues: inadequate income and lack of affordable housing. Bezos is directly responsible for his employees lack of adequate wages, an issue he won't fix.

No, he is going to build preschools in poor neighborhoods so that poor kids can get properly educated and break the cycle of poverty 2 decades from now when they grow up.

Conveniently kicks the can down the road and does nothing to solve homelessness in the here and now, plus comes with all kinds of plausible deniability. "Just wait 2 decades! You'll see! It will help them... Eventually!"

"The beatings shall continue until morale improves." and all that.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#153

Post by jakelazaroff » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:10 PM UTC

yeukhon wrote: post #121

jakelazaroff wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one's shaming him for not doing something better. They're shaming him for having a direct role in creating the problem this charity is supposed to resolve.

Isn’t this “problem created by” anyone who is rich then?

You could make that argument as well, but I'm specifically talking about Amazon's underpayment of workers and efforts to kill taxes that would fund efforts meant to curb homelessness, among other things. Some of the other replies to my comment have links to articles about these.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#154

Post by sonnyblarney » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:11 PM UTC

I don't believe these externalized 'throwing money at things' solves much.

What he can do is find innovative solutions within is own organization for the wellbeing of his own staff.

And given his power in the value chain, start to demand basic rights in the crap countries of the world where the crap he peddles is made.

Steve Jobs had so much power that literally in one, single email, in one sentence, could have changed workers rights globally. His supply chain would have had to bend to his specific requirements and it would have propagated. A simple 'charter of workers rights', you know, like the 'right to go to the bathroom' and to 'not be woken up in the middle of the night' etc. would have been nice to see.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#155

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:11 PM UTC

rstupek wrote: post #146

dunpeal wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Seattle resident, what do you think of the argument that Amazon greatly contributed to homelessness in Seattle? I read somewhere that Amazon's explosive growth raised the property values in Seattle, which in turn caused a surge in homelessness. Is that true?

Homelessness is typically a mental health problem, not a property value problem

People always say this, but the problem is that it's not true. A majority of homeless people are not mentally ill.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#156

Post by staticautomatic » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:11 PM UTC

CodeSheikh wrote: post #130

I dont't care if this is a PR stint to ward of recent criticism Bezos is getting from Bernie et al but if this fund goes and actually help and make a real life impact on the lives of homeless people, then I am fine and I will hold back my criticism of Amazon. I mean clearly I have not done enough to mitigate homelessness in this country who am I to question others motives trying to solve the same problem?

Bad actors must be held to account even if they occasionally do good things. I see no compelling reason to withhold criticism of Amazon because of this.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#157

Post by songzme » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:11 PM UTC

NeonVice wrote: post #124

jakelazaroff wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one's shaming him for not doing something better. They're shaming him for having a direct role in creating the problem this charity is supposed to resolve.

How is Amazon creating more homeless people?

X used to own a bookstore. It was good enough to put him in middle class. Then the culture changed, it was easier for people to read reviews online and buy, than to shop in book stores. His shop has to close down, now he drives for Uber and tries to make ends meet. He is no longer in middle class. Not homeless, but I'd imagine if there are more competition for unskilled labor, more people would be squeezed into homelessness

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#158

Post by ithilglin909 » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

This isn’t popular, but I’d challenge anyone who thinks homelessness in Seattle isn’t primarily an addiction and mental illness problem to go spend a few afternoons in areas with significant homeless populations (3rd Ave in Pioneer Square is a great place, if you need a suggestion).

It’s not that affordable housing isn’t a problem in Seattle. I know people who couldn’t live on their own in Seattle anymore due to rental increases, including members of my extended family. But those people either move away to more affordable areas, moving in with family or friends or into (sometimes questionably legal) group housing situations, but they don’t live on the street.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#159

Post by DoreenMichele » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

ajcodez wrote: post #137

DoreenMichele wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You aren't anywhere near cynical enough. Taken far enough, programs to "help the homeless" -- instead of programs to reduce homelessness -- are a de facto plot to keep homelessness alive and well. It's a form of oppression of the masses. https://streetlifesolutions.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-shirky-...

I see some parallels with aid sent to Africa. Charitable giving can alleviate suffering short term with the side effect of perpetuating suffering long term. > Aid [to Africa] is an unmitigated political, economic and humanitarian disaster. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123758895999200083

You might enjoy reading Diet for a small planet. It gets remembered as a vegetarian cookbook, but the first half of the book is about international politics and how food aid is part of the problem.

Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless

#160

Post by capdeck » Thu, Sep 13, 2018, 5:12 PM UTC

CodeSheikh wrote: post #130

I dont't care if this is a PR stint to ward of recent criticism Bezos is getting from Bernie et al but if this fund goes and actually help and make a real life impact on the lives of homeless people, then I am fine and I will hold back my criticism of Amazon. I mean clearly I have not done enough to mitigate homelessness in this country who am I to question others motives trying to solve the same problem?

Looks like this was cheaper than upping the salaries of warehouse workers to get them off food stamps and provide healthcare. For Bezos this is just another calculation, nothing more.