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

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

#331

Post by TuGuQuKu »

dsabanin wrote: post #86

What's up with the critical comments in here? How many of the judgemental and jaded posters here donated anything close to this to a charitable cause? Good deeds must be applauded, not shamed for not being better. Especially if the definition of "better" is made up randomly on the spot.

I donate much more than 1.2% of my net worth to charity, and every 2 weeks to boot. Somehow I also manage to do it without publicizing it on dozens of media outlets every time or blowing tens of millions on a disgustingly wasteful luxury lifestyle. But where's my army of loser internet sycophants?

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

#332

Post by TuGuQuKu »

dsabanin wrote: post #281
tedivm wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking who else has donated anything close to this is a bit silly considering most people aren't billionaires. It might be more fair to ask how many people have donated 1.2% of their net worth to charity, and I think the answer will surprise you in that a lot of people have. A second question is whether or not this makes up for how Bezos has gotten his money and the potential damages on society that has. If I burn do…

Have you donated more than 1.2% of your net worth to charity?

Who hasn't???

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

#333

Post by sharkweek »

ithilglin909 wrote: post #307
sharkweek wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resident of Seattle here, who has spent a number of years volunteering with a variety of homeless services (Real Change, Urban Rest Stop, for the other locals on here). I think you're right that the WORST of the homeless crisis is due to addiction and mental illness, but honestly that's only about half (edited [1]) or so of the homeless population. The majority of the homeless or near-homeless people who use the city…

To be clear, I have volunteered with a number of organizations that help the homeless in Seattle. I don't know where you're getting 25-30% from, but that doesn't match with my experience -- I'm inclined to believe it's much higher, but it can really depend on what neighborhood you're in.

Ah sorry, mis-remembered the stats. Here's the number I was thinking of:

25% have a mental illness 35% have a substance issue

https://sunrisehouse.com/addiction-demographics/homeless-pop...

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

#334

Post by opencl »

olivermarks wrote: post #142
NeonVice wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is Amazon creating more homeless people?

By centralizing giant swathes of the consumption economy to run through Amazon, destroying jobs at every step of the way. Sweden have banned Amazon so their local economies can flourish. I think this is good macro business logic for a nation state. https://www.politico.eu/article/sweden-amazon-competition-ec...

Sweden did not ban Amazon. Amazon just doesn't operate in Sweden (yet). People in Sweden can already buy things from the other EU Amazon stores.

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

#335

Post by tedivm »

dsabanin wrote: post #281
tedivm wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking who else has donated anything close to this is a bit silly considering most people aren't billionaires. It might be more fair to ask how many people have donated 1.2% of their net worth to charity, and I think the answer will surprise you in that a lot of people have. A second question is whether or not this makes up for how Bezos has gotten his money and the potential damages on society that has. If I burn do…

Have you donated more than 1.2% of your net worth to charity?

I donate more than 1.2% of my income each year to charity, and that amounts to a lot more than 1.2% of my net worth (it should be noted that people in my generation tend to have a negative net wealth due to student loans and being locked out of the housing market, which means most of them can meet this requirement by giving five dollars to a homeless person on the street if you want to use a more liberal definition for charity).

Specifically, I donate money to (and this is not in any particular order)-

* ACLU * EFF * NAMI * NAACP * BLM * NPR (local affiliate) * Between $40 and $100 a week directly to homeless people.

I also try to volunteer time as well.

What charities do you donate to, and more importantly why is that even relevant to a conversation about what responsibilities people with obscene amounts of wealth should have?

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

#336

Post by lostmsu »

emodendroket wrote: post #260
lostmsu wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We are talking about sentient people. Wages and housing prices may be an excuse, but they don't shove drugs down people's throats. Mental illness - may be. But one needs to know if it's the cause, or simply an exposing factor.

I don't think it's even controversial to say that people can turn to substance abuse due to adverse exogenous circumstances.

It is controversial by definition, because you just disagreed.

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

#337

Post by rabboRubble »

ithilglin909 wrote: post #158

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 rent…

If Portland, Oregon is any indication, you forgot the military veterans segment of the homeless community.

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

#338

Post by skrebbel »

mywittyname wrote: post #327
skrebbel wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a clueless foreigner [0], and HN is my only window into the Bay Area (and, in a more general sense, into America), so I appreciate your writeup. On HN my impression that absolutely everybody agrees that SF and the cities near it should just build more and higher. It appears to solve all the problems (insane rent, extreme commutes, homelessness, poo), so why is it politically untenable? Who exactly is pro insane r…

Let's say you paid $1,000,000 for a home that would fetch $200,000 in most other parts of the country. What would you do if someone proposed a law that you figured would half the value of your home? Eat the loss or oppose the law? Property owners in CA are being rational. They don't like the poop, commutes and homelessness. But they aren't willing to take a half-million dollar bath on their real-estate investment.

Sure, but my question was why they control the vote.

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

#339

Post by jakelazaroff »

dsabanin wrote: post #281
tedivm wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking who else has donated anything close to this is a bit silly considering most people aren't billionaires. It might be more fair to ask how many people have donated 1.2% of their net worth to charity, and I think the answer will surprise you in that a lot of people have. A second question is whether or not this makes up for how Bezos has gotten his money and the potential damages on society that has. If I burn do…

Have you donated more than 1.2% of your net worth to charity?

Yes, I do so every year.

1.2% is not some lofty, unrealistic amount if you are financially secure. The median net worth of Americans by age 55 peaks at $85,000 [1], which comes out to just under $20 per week. If you exclude home equity from net worth, half of Americans under 55 could donate 1.2% for less than $6 per week.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-average-net-worth-...

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

#340

Post by DoreenMichele »

dsabanin wrote: post #86

What's up with the critical comments in here? How many of the judgemental and jaded posters here donated anything close to this to a charitable cause? Good deeds must be applauded, not shamed for not being better. Especially if the definition of "better" is made up randomly on the spot.

I'm one of the people being critical. My definition of "better" is hardly made up randomly on the spot.

If someone intentionally gave people AIDS, then volunteered to cover the cost of their pain meds, would you say "Ah, what a great guy!" Or would you go "Oh, really now? Puh-leez!"

As someone who sees the systemic problems that cause homelessness because I have studied it for many years, I'm going "Oh, puh-leez!"

Your framing of the issue is incredibly hard to engage because it presumes those years of study do not exist, aren't a valid basis for my opinion etc.

(Or a slightly more accurate metaphor: They have AIDS, they keep screwing people and refusing to hear they shouldn't and are generously offering to pay for pain killers, but absolutely refuse to stop screwing people.)

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