Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 560 posts

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

#41

Post by blacksmith_tb »

agumonkey wrote: post #14
karangoeluw wrote: post #2

I have always wondered which one is better: 1. Contribute early on little by little 2. Contribute nothing to very little for a while amassing huge fortunes (and compound interest magic), then donate big. Pretty much the same question as lump sum vs dollar cost averaging in investing. Have there been studies on this?

I think history gives a bit of the answer. There's always been work done to help homeless people, and it never really got better. Worst part IMO is that it's not to be a money sink. I deeply believe that homelessness is mostly emotional, these guys need deep moral support and a bit of material support. But you can't buy moral support. Having someone drop 2B might help motivate society and finally realize how to fix t…

I think that may be overstating things[1], though I agree it's a tough problem. Lots of folks need some extra help, they're disabled, they have mental illnesses, or substance addictions (or all of the above). Just giving them a tiny house or apartment is not enough to keep them housed. But typically we fund programs to address all of those problems separately, with varying degrees of cooperation between them.

1: https://www.npr.org/2015/12/10/459100751/utah-reduced-chroni...

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

#42

Post by pinewurst »

etaty wrote: post #26

All hail to Bezos... Earlier this year, under pressure from Amazon and other large employers, Seattle’s City Council repealed an employee head tax designed to provide housing and services for the homeless. In a statement, Amazon called the vote “the right decision for the region’s economic prosperity. We are deeply committed to being part of the solution to end homelessness in Seattle and will continue to invest in l…

Speaking as a Seattle resident, and despite my dislike for Bezos, this was a stupid tax - more connected to Seattle's dysfunctional politics than solving our bad homeless problem. Among other things, it was keyed to revenues not profits (specifically to target Amazon) but it ended up burning the likes of grocers who provide decent jobs but don't have a lot of margin even with large revenues. Good riddance to it and a pox on our local Pol Pot that drove it.

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

#43

Post by maxxxxx »

woah wrote: post #32
kolanos wrote: post #10

Call 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...

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?

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

#44

Post by mc32 »

geofft wrote: post #19
mc32 wrote: post #4

I 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)

> 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 Can you expand on this?

We have homeless, we have veterans, we have addicts, we have people with mental health issues and we have illegal immigrants. The latter gets much more vocal support from progressives over fellow americans. We can have an influence on how we treat compatriots. So while some progressives want to subsidize services out of our tax dollars for people who have not contributed to our society, they don’t fight for fellow Americans in need with the same vigor, nor do they even denounce the policies or governments in those countries which contribute to those counties’ economic malaise —quite the opposite, some admire Chavista and Catroist policies.

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

#45

Post by gaius »

woah wrote: post #32
kolanos wrote: post #10

Call 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...

What is the problem with the employees using public benefits? Genuinely curious.

Because the taxpayers are effectively subsidising their employer by “topping up” their wages to the true market level . We see this happening alot in the UK too.

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

#46

Post by ianleeclark »

kolanos wrote: post #10

Call 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...

There's a good 2-part podcast about Benevolent Billionaires from the "Citations Needed" podcast that goes a bit over the history of billionaire benevolence and what the good deeds cover up.

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

#47

Post by burlesona »

umvi wrote: post #38
burlesona wrote: post #15

I hope this works and is successful. Still I can’t help but be reminded of the saying that roughly goes “the people who are paid to solve a problem end up having a vested interest in the problem not being solved.” Specifically with regards to homelessness, the problem seems to be the critical shortage of housing for people in general, leading to a total crisis of affordable housing, rather than a specific problem of…

> the people who are paid to solve a problem end up having a vested interest in the problem not being solved. AKA the Shirky Principle https://kk.org/thetechnium/the-shirky-prin/

Thanks for the link! I couldn’t remember the attribution.

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

#48

Post by whatok »

kolanos wrote: post #10

Call 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?

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

#50

Post by rahul003 »

maxxxxx wrote: post #43
woah wrote: post #32

Earlier 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?

But isn't he paying market wages for them? Similar to what the other companies are paying them.
Post reply on HN