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Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

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Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#161

Post by scarecrowbob »

irrational wrote: post #75
FussyZeus wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or the 1%. Something Rich people tend to forget is that the system of law and order we have now prevents armed uprising of the lower classes, which has a history of cropping up during very hard economic times. Not advocating, and I doubt I'd be one of them holding a pitchfork, but it is something to keep in mind.

Back in the day, most people grew up working on a farm/ranch/etc. and actually knew how to use a pitchfork. I'm trying to imagine today's obese generation trying to physically overthrow the government and can't help thinking that it wouldn't go so well.

To be fair, the cops are fatter, too.

On a more serious note, a population is only peacefully policed at the enjoyment of the people. The critical mass of insurrection beyond which a population can no longer be policed is low. In my lifetime I have seen riots in LA, Baltimore, and Ferguson, to name just three. And those were of minority populations. If the entitled "obese" hegemonic population were part of the insurrection, it might be more difficult to put them down.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#162

Post by skookumchuck »

nickthemagicman wrote: post #152
pitaj wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the same New Deal that likely extended the length of the Great Depression by a significant multiple?

This goes against every ounce of history I've been taught.

Nearly all histories of the Great Depression are agenda driven, rather than an honest attempt at fact finding.

Most paint it as a failure of capitalism, the rest as a direct result of government manipulation of the banking system, trade disruption caused by Smoot-Hawley, and huge tax increases.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#163

Post by mrb »

nostromo wrote: post #29
Endama wrote: post #15

I feel that America is in the midst of a new gilded age; instead of Standard Oil, we have Amazon. Like the late 1920s, we saw losses in purchasing power of the average American, the collection of wealth among the top 1%, and disruption of our civic spaces as a result. I think the thing that many Americans aren't aware of was just how violent that time in US history was[1]. The US economy isn't just about how comforta…

I think Bezos is a bad argument for us being in a new guilded age. When you look at Rockefeller, Carnegie, Ford, and perhaps even Gates, they had near total control over some aspect of the American Economy. And they used that control to make incredible profits. Amazon is trying to do the same, but they haven't done so yet. Their retail business is not wildly profitable (if at all). They haven't monopolized online ret…

«They are not wildly profitable (if at all).»

Often repeated, but wrong. Their financials might show almost no net income (just $3B) but that's just because they choose to reinvest every dollar of gross profits into themselves to grow.

Just look at their income statement: in 2017 they invested $23B into "R&D". These are profits they could have just taken.

Obviously, reinvesting in themselves has been a fantastic choice. That's how they were able to grow their revenues ~10× over the last 10 years ($20B to $180B)...

As long as reinvesting works so well, you will keep seeing a "meager" net income of $3B yearly.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#164

Post by kart23 »

twodave wrote: post #128

In my opinion, the biggest risk to Bezos' wealth is the same thing that drew me into the service to begin with. In the mid-to-late 2000s it was easy to go to Amazon, search for "thing I want" and blindly purchase the 4.5-5 star item with enough reviews to appear legitimate. I could do this and expect to get a great product _every_ time. Now, I find myself spending an hour screwing with the filters and reading reviews…

Honestly, I fucking hate Amazon. I love going to a store, feeling the product and then deciding if I like the look and feel of a product. And Amazon doesn't even carry good stuff anymore. It's all just junk nowadays, and the useful stuff is often overpriced or out of stock. I want somewhere where I can find unique, good quality brands, and brick&mortar will always be best for that.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#165

Post by Fricken »

sidlls wrote: post #143
aphextron wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except we actually had a functioning federal government during the last gilded age, so we ended up with things like the Sherman Antitrust Act, and eventually the New Deal. I doubt we'll be so lucky this time around. Things are about to get absolutely brutal for the 90%.

"About to?" It already is brutal for the bottom half. And the 90th percentile is too low: people in that range are paupers by comparison even to the top 5. I think the 95th to the 99th percentile is the region to look at. There are some seriously deluded individuals in that group who think they won't be on the outside with the rest of us when the top pull the gates closed behind them.

America is a nation of temporarily inconvenienced millionaires. This disconnect between expectations and reality is one of it's biggest problems. You can visit any number of poorer nations where being poor does is not a punishment, it not equate to a difficult or miserable life, because society, it's services and it's infrastructure are all built to accomodate people of modest means. In America is designed for you to have a McMansion with a two car garage, and if you can't meet the bottom line you either go into debt to pretend you're meeting it or you're cast to the fringes where you struggle just to survive in a world that is not designed to accomodate People of modest means.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#166

Post by TheLoneAdmin »

detaro wrote: post #147
TheLoneAdmin wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$12/hour is inhumane?

If its combined with inhumane conditions as a requirement to stay employed, yes.

So what would you consider a "humane rate" to pay someone to work in inhumane conditions? $20/hr? $100/hr?

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#167

Post by lev99 »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #119
irrational wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, most people grew up working on a farm/ranch/etc. and actually knew how to use a pitchfork. I'm trying to imagine today's obese generation trying to physically overthrow the government and can't help thinking that it wouldn't go so well.

Most Americans have guns. The police has better weapons, but it would be a war of attrition, and I doubt most police would want to go on killing sprees against their fellow countrymen. Although I doubt it'd reach the point of massive insurrection. That would require a total loss of trust in the government, and I think we're still far from that.

An attempt to overthrow the government is handled by the military, not the police. The military has more guns, better supply lines, and better discipline than police forces.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#169

Post by toasterlovin »

dghughes wrote: post #118
tmpz22 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except nowadays even small local police departments have tanks and swat teams.

Anytime US police are shown on TV it's staggering to see how many are of them are obese. How can these police officers function in their jobs being so large? There must be yearly fitness tests to weed out people like that. Surely someone 6 feet tall 300 or 400 pounds can barely walk let alone run after someone.

FWIW, strength is way more important for policing and combat than being thin. Obese people who move around on a daily basis are usually quite strong. They have to be.

Re: Jeff Bezos Becomes the Richest Man in Modern History, Topping $150B

#170

Post by paulie_a »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #119
irrational wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back in the day, most people grew up working on a farm/ranch/etc. and actually knew how to use a pitchfork. I'm trying to imagine today's obese generation trying to physically overthrow the government and can't help thinking that it wouldn't go so well.

Most Americans have guns. The police has better weapons, but it would be a war of attrition, and I doubt most police would want to go on killing sprees against their fellow countrymen. Although I doubt it'd reach the point of massive insurrection. That would require a total loss of trust in the government, and I think we're still far from that.

Most Americans don't have guns. Gun owners are a minority with a very loud voice.
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