Finally someone realizes that there is a problem. There is no justification in the biggest economy of the world to have this much poverty and homelessness. I am amazed every time I travel to Europe, how few homeless people there are, despite their economic growth lagging the US. And it is inherently a solvable problem with adequate resources. We have $1 trillion for the military. Surely, we can spare a few billions and house the downtrodden and provide mental care for those who can't take care of themselves.
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
#102Call me cynical, but shouldn't this $2B go towards compensating his employees well enough to not have to use government welfare programs? [0] [0]: https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-takes-walmarts-spot-w...
Should Bezos pay part-time workers full-time wages so they don't have to use government programs?
Bezos decided to hire them part time, so the question is kind of ludicrous.
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It’s about time companies care for their down and out compatriots. A nit, but this is still a little like dominoes fixing pot holes in the city so their drivers can actually deliver. Sure it's great, but it would be better to pay a more fair share of taxes and provide a safety net for our people and the money needed to maintain common infrastructure. I don't doubt this will be a more efficient endeavor than a gover…
Agree with almost everything you wrote. But given the track record of big philanthropy I doubt very much that this will be more efficient than government efforts.
Would you take government efforts with political sandbagging as a substitute?
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is the problem with the employees using public benefits? Genuinely curious.
This means that the public is subsidizing a company owned by the richest man in the world because he refuses to pay his employees a living wage. Doesn't this sound wrong?
Why isn't 'living wage' != 'minimum wage'
Democracy is not working? Whats the alternative.
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
$2B divided by 600k employees would be more than $3000, which is actually huge for many people.
If you're making $50k/year, that's a one time 6 percent bonus. Color me unimpressed.
Are warehouse workers getting paid $50k/year?
EDIT: For comparison, 50k USD is approximately 65k CAD, which makes higher than the median starting salary for a mechanical/electrical engineer in Canada. I would be surprised if they are paying their lowest-paid employees that much.
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#106He's obviously trying to diffuse the momentum of a movement that is aligning against him. The most popular politician in America just introduced the Stop BEZOS act: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/09/05/bernie-sa... The 2B are less costly than losing the whole shebang. I would not be surprised in the least if he ends up still controlling the 2B and this ends up as just a headline.
> The most popular politician in America just introduced the Stop BEZOS act from the article: > Bernie Sanders Popular by who's standards?
2016, 2017 polls by Harvard/Harris of nation, polls about senators within their states.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/bernie-sanders-...
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#107Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#108What'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.
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.
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
This means that the public is subsidizing a company owned by the richest man in the world because he refuses to pay his employees a living wage. Doesn't this sound wrong?
It's wrong but how is it the company's fault? It is the government's responsibility to set a minimum wage. How come the blame doesn't fall on the policy makers and lobbyists?
The tech companies are some of the biggest lobbyists around. Large retail, I would guess, are as well.
They also put in massive amounts of effort to avoid unionization.
Re: Amazon's Bezos Launches $2B Fund to Help the Homeless
#110I don’t agree with Bezos on a few things, but this is big. It’s about time companies care for their down and out compatriots. Progressives make all kinds of noise and virtue signal for people outside our care, but where the rubber meets the road, they fall short on helping fellow Americans—this is a nice start. Let’s see where it goes. Wonder if he’ll get Bernie to contribute (tongue in cheek)
This is not company money. It's from his personal fortune.
What's the difference?