Jeff Bezo's Amazon shows the True nature of the Rich Liberal

[MrSquished]

Weird stance to have.

How so

 

[Puffnstuff]

Of course! But that doesn't change the fact that a company isn't legally required to maximize profit for the shareholders benefit.

Actually under federal law employees are required to do what is in the best interest of the company each and every time. I learned this in my business law classes where it falls under their fiduciary to the company and is embedded in the code governing each type of business structure.

 

[Moonbeam]

It’s a truly insane argument that has eaten a lot of people’s brains in recent years. Basically the idea is that good jobs mean a bunch of new high wage people in town who will bid up rents. This is true, but very dumb, because if you have a housing shortage you can always just build more houses. Those high wage people also pay a lot of taxes which you can use to upgrade your infrastructure, build more affordable housing, etc.

It all stems from a refusal to undertake common sense housing policy.

I suppose it depends on how you define the problem as to what might be called common sense. From another angle more people requiring more infrastructure and more housing can more simply be solved by eugenics. If your problem is people and your common sense argument hurts some people like folk who own single family homes and want to keep them that way, why not just go for a more direct solution, one that will turn out to be as equally unpractical for reasons that it is unwelcome. Or why not pass laws that prevent the homeless from being cleared from city streets. Slums are colorful and make good movie props.

 

[ivwshane]

Actually under federal law employees are required to do what is in the best interest of the company each and every time. I learned this in my business law classes where it falls under their fiduciary to the company and is embedded in the code governing each type of business structure.

No its not. Show me the federal law that mandates such a thing.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Washington state resident here, living in a city next door to Seattle.

This is a new, tacked-on tax on top of existing B&O taxes, plus other taxes Amazon pays to Seattle for construction. So they are saying no to an extra tax, targeted at them -- they'd be paying around 30% of the total revenue generated.

Seattle government really is ultra-leftist: I voted for Clinton, Obama, Clinton but these people are like the rabid Bernie Sanders extremists who hate evil corporations while loving to spend their money. One of the Seattle Council members (who is trying to pass this) led an anti-Amazon rally awhile back, and has made public statements that corporations like it should be taken over by the government and their wealth distributed to "the people." She proudly identifies as a socialist. Elections are between left and even more left.

Seattle government is also on a massive and unsustainable spending spree, fed by the construction boom and huge increases in property taxes. Council staff was bumped up, spending on the homeless was already doubled before trying to add the Amazon tax, and they are wasting millions on feel-good dumbness like spending $2+ million to subsidize a failed bike-sharing program.

So if I did live there I'd be ranting even more about the poor leadership of Seattle, and why they should be spending the money they have more carefully instead of adding more and more taxes.

 

[Noah Abrams]

Dave Dave Dave, what did you just do?!? You plainly described progressives in ways that are unwelcome on this forum

By the way I could care less about Amazon or bozo.

But I do know a thing or two about the work in progress progressive utopia called Seattle. I was going to create a thread about it. Maybe I will still do some time

But Dave, please don’t try to jolt people into reality. Imagination is much nicer better

 

[pmv]

Libertarians are under the umbrella of the Republican party for the most part. See Ron and Rand Paul.

Well, yeah, but that just means they constitute the liberal wing of the Republicans. The Republicans, like the British Tories, are a coalition of liberals and conservatives (though, compared to the Tories, they do seem to have a far stronger strand of hard-core conservatism - the UK Tories have been predominantly liberals since Thatcher - that difference is I suppose a lot to do with the greater influence of religion in the US). The Democrats are mostly liberals, of the welfarist flavour, with a small sprinkling of leftists.

 

[Moonbeam]

Dave Dave Dave, what did you just do?!? You plainly described progressives in ways that are unwelcome on this forum

By the way I could care less about Amazon or bozo.

But I do know a thing or two about the work in progress progressive utopia called Seattle. I was going to create a thread about it. Maybe I will still do some time

But Dave, please don’t try to jolt people into reality. Imagination is much nicer better

It sounds like you are not aware that peer review scientific evidence has shown that conservatives are more likely to live in an altered reality, to rationalize away facts, more than liberals do. The science has also found a plausible connection to two other scientifically established facts, that the right amygdala of self professed conservatives is larger than in self confessed liberals, a part of the brain that involves emotional reactions like fear, and that the cingulate is smaller, the part of the brain used to prevent fear blocking rational thinking. In shout, the brains of liberals are better suited both physically based on anatomical theories and on test results in reality, to face real facts.

 

[Noah Abrams]

Moon moon moon, I would take Dostoevsky over a peer reviewed study any day of the week. And the way he describes human beings, esp the charge the grand inquisitor lays out, part of which I can link here...a small part..and an even smaller part I can type here...

"I tell you that man has no more tormenting care than to find someone to whom he can hand over as quickly as possible that gift of freedom with which the miserable creature is born."

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/787375-i-tell-you-that-man-has-no-more-tormenting-care

This of course is a human universal condition, but it appears the progressives (who generally do not have much spirituality, not that I have much either) are more prone to it...

 

[MrSquished]

Dave Dave Dave, what did you just do?!? You plainly described progressives in ways that are unwelcome on this forum

By the way I could care less about Amazon or bozo.

But I do know a thing or two about the work in progress progressive utopia called Seattle. I was going to create a thread about it. Maybe I will still do some time

But Dave, please don’t try to jolt people into reality. Imagination is much nicer better

I don't find most progressives to be socialists that want to have government take over private enterprise for example. Or other extreme things really.

 

[Noah Abrams]

I don't find most progressives to be socialists that want to have government take over private enterprise for example. Or other extreme things really.

Oh the taking over by govt explicitly was only a small part of what Dave was talking about. Indeed you are right, technically.

I was talking in the overall context of the progressive movement. And by the way, taking over by govt does not have to be done officially, legally. Govt takes over things in many other ways.

 

[MrSquished]

Oh the taking over by govt explicitly was only a small part of what Dave was talking about. Indeed you are right, technically.

I was talking in the overall context of the progressive movement. And by the way, taking over by govt does not have to be done officially, legally. Govt takes over things in many other ways.

What are these non legal ways the government takes over

 

[cytg111]

Amazon puts Seattle expansion on pause over tax proposal

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/03...m_recirculation&spotim_referrer=recirculation



They are anti-Trump, support the latest Social Justice Issue while pointing the finger at those evil conservatives, just don't touch their money because if you try they will get all Koch on you,

and people, especially our naive liberals, believe that the real rich including many of the pretend liberal types they love so much are going to let you tax their income for the benefit of society whether it's for taking care of the homeless today or that future fantasy called basic income they love to harp about,

you will have better luck riding the unicorn over the rainbow to that magical pot of gold.

HahhahHahhahHhahhahhahha.. So Jeff is a liberal cause he aint acting like rocket fuel and thus validating your dark prince.. erh orange sack of shit? Sorry dude but this was in the wind way before the tax cuts.. many of them flat out said so.

 

[fskimospy]

Dave Dave Dave, what did you just do?!? You plainly described progressives in ways that are unwelcome on this forum

By the way I could care less about Amazon or bozo.

But I do know a thing or two about the work in progress progressive utopia called Seattle. I was going to create a thread about it. Maybe I will still do some time

But Dave, please don’t try to jolt people into reality. Imagination is much nicer better

I like how you followed up talking about jolting people into reality by dismissing empirical research, haha.

There’s not even a small sense of irony in you?

 

[Noah Abrams]

I like how you followed up talking about jolting people into reality by dismissing empirical research, haha.

There’s not even a small sense of irony in you?

I see more irony in that you missed the greater point about human nature. That is not “dismissing” supposedly empirical research (something I know that you bow your head to) but it was trying to steer the conversation to a deeper level.

Laugh as much you like. Empirical research says it’s good for you hahaha

 

[Starbuck1975]

They can coin any term they want for him, he treats his workers like absolute shit, like a standard capitalist, republican, or libertarian

If Bezos ran for office, under which party do you think it would be?

 

[Jaskalas]

Of course! But that doesn't change the fact that a company isn't legally required to maximize profit for the shareholders benefit.

NYT has a very interesting section on this topic. One of the pieces reads like this: It’s Law, But It Shouldn’t Be.
You are correct to suggest they don't have to focus strictly on short term profits, they can consider long term ones as well. So long as it is in the investor's interests. So my reply to your correction was the following:

Why would it be in the shareholder's interests for Amazon to pay those specific taxes if they have an option not to?

Seems to hold, that it's accurate to blame Amazon's fiduciary duty in their resistance of new annual fees. That certainly is in the investor's interests.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Amazon puts Seattle expansion on pause over tax proposal

https://www.engadget.com/2018/05/03...m_recirculation&spotim_referrer=recirculation



They are anti-Trump, support the latest Social Justice Issue while pointing the finger at those evil conservatives, just don't touch their money because if you try they will get all Koch on you,

and people, especially our naive liberals, believe that the real rich including many of the pretend liberal types they love so much are going to let you tax their income for the benefit of society whether it's for taking care of the homeless today or that future fantasy called basic income they love to harp about,

you will have better luck riding the unicorn over the rainbow to that magical pot of gold.

Bezos is a liberal and Amazon a private company Jeff can do whit as he wants? Got two things wrong right off the bat there OP. Please stop posting shit threads.

 

[IJTSSG]

It’s a truly insane argument that has eaten a lot of people’s brains in recent years. Basically the idea is that good jobs mean a bunch of new high wage people in town who will bid up rents. This is true, but very dumb, because if you have a housing shortage you can always just build more houses. Those high wage people also pay a lot of taxes which you can use to upgrade your infrastructure, build more affordable housing, etc.

It all stems from a refusal to undertake common sense housing policy.

It's a bit simplistic to say "they can just build more houses" isn't it? Is that really possible in many parts of the country?

This is just about semantics, and in particular the fact that the word 'liberal' is almost meaningless.

The guy may be a libertarian, but libertarians are a sub-type of liberal. Liberal is such a wide category that it's almost a useless concept.

His political donations are all to Dems. Based on that and his stance on social issues I would call him a very moderate Democrat.

Weird stance to have.

Doesn't he own the WaPo?

Of course! But that doesn't change the fact that a company isn't legally required to maximize profit for the shareholders benefit.

In almost all cases, they are legally required to try.

 

[cytg111]

If Bezos ran for office, under which party do you think it would be?

Before or after Trump?

 

[pmv]

His political donations are all to Dems. Based on that and his stance on social issues I would call him a very moderate Democrat.

So, as I thought - firmly on the right.

 

[Jaskalas]

Silly Seattle. All they had to do was wait until AFTER Amazon completed construction and moved into the new building(s).

 

[pmv]

Moon moon moon, I would take Dostoevsky over a peer reviewed study any day of the week. And the way he describes human beings, esp the charge the grand inquisitor lays out, part of which I can link here...a small part..and an even smaller part I can type here...

"I tell you that man has no more tormenting care than to find someone to whom he can hand over as quickly as possible that gift of freedom with which the miserable creature is born."

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/787375-i-tell-you-that-man-has-no-more-tormenting-care

This of course is a human universal condition, but it appears the progressives (who generally do not have much spirituality, not that I have much either) are more prone to it...

Well that's just, like, Dostoevsky's opinion, man!

Isn't "argument from authority" a fallacy?

Anyway I'm not sure I'd take either of them, any day of the week. A reductionist neurological take on something that properly belongs to the domain of sociology and politics, vs that obscurantist bore Dostoevksy?

Wading through The Brothers Karamzov was the most tedious read of my life. A theological snooze-fest with characters who behaved like crazy people throughout.

Also, all that editorialising about how the noble Russian peasant would never revolt, owing to his deeply spiritual nature didn't reassure me about Fyodor's grasp of human nature. A few decades down the line those peasants were cooking and eating their landlords, but never mind.

I'm with Joseph Conrad when it comes to Russian literature. I mean, look how that country has turned out. So an unsubstantiated assertion doesn't gain much from having a dead Russian's name attached to it.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Before or after Trump?

Fair question. Before Trump, perhaps the thought didn’t even cross his mind. After Trump, especially since Trump is placing Amazon in his crosshairs, I think its safe to say Bezos would run as a Democrat.

 

[Noah Abrams]

No no I wasn’t trying to say just because Dostoevsky wrote something it carries more weight. Those pages where the Grand Inquisitor lays out the charges against Jesus is one of the most profound pieces of writing I’ve ever come across.

Actually the worse the state of affairs is, personally or region wise, the higher the quality of art usually is. Suffering is an essential aspect of it. When did fat rich societies create great art? Look at the sorry state of American literature these days. So I disagree entirely with you on that