Why do you hate Jeff Bezos?
The answers are usually the same.
Bezos has too much money
There’s no arguing that the world’s wealth skew is absurd. No one NEEDS almost 200 billion USD.
But two facts are true.
One, when you create a business/system that brings value on a national scale, the money follows. That’s how money changes hands; value is provided and then money is paid. At the scale that Amazon fulfills the market need, money just keeps pouring in. If you’ve ever bought anything off of Amazon, then you’re part of the problem you’re talking about.
Two, the wealthy have the majority of their money tied up in investments such as stocks and real estate. Net worth isn’t spending capital. It’s largely non-liquid and is really just meaningless outside of clout/status, once your family’s living expenses can be covered indefinitely. (Yes, stocks are liquid but why pull money out and pay a huge tax burden when you don’t need the money? I know, 0.01% problems amiright??)
I’m not saying that Bezos or the next billionaire has the anxiety of worrying about how to pay for their next meal or rent check. What I’m saying is that before you worry about other people’s money, start looking at how YOU can make more money for yourself. Nobody got rich by counting other people’s money.
Bezos needs to give money away
Why don’t YOU give money away? Because you don’t have billions? Yea, let me ask you, do you have more than those at a homeless shelter? Before you criticize others, take a real deep look at yourself with the same lens. You might not like what you see. That’s why most people don’t do it. It’s just easier to tell others what they should do.
And if you do give a lot of your time and money to charities, I’m betting you’re not the one complaining that the rich have too much. It’s always the whiners that are the stingiest.
We pay more taxes than Amazon does
No arguments here on the facts. We do pay more taxes in % than Amazon does. But the facts are also that Amazon writes it all off LEGALLY. If you want to do something about it, call your local congressmen to change the tax structure of businesses. Do something about it. Crying on the internet or to your buddy over a beer is just bitchin and moaning.
Amazon destroyed businesses/jobs and treats workers poorly
Do you want to fine Netflix for destroying Blockbuster and every other VHS rental business out there like Rose Videos? Well, that’s basically what Amazon did, they fundamentally changed the way the world shops. If you can’t keep up, you get left behind. That’s life, deal with it.
As for treating workers poorly, that could definitely be improved and research shows that companies that treat their workers well, benefits the company. By treating their workers poorly, it’s just a matter of time before it bites them in the backside.
Jeff Bezos should be forcing change to regulations
Sure, you could argue that when you reach a certain level of wealth and power, it’s your duty to ensure the health and welfare of society. I get that whole, with great power comes great responsibility schtick. But does he HAVE to? I say no. It’d be nice if he did, sure. But the world and country isn’t set up that way. Maybe you’ll get a group of your disgruntled friends and storm his house. But you’ll be in a world of disappointment because like I said, net worth isn’t spending cash. There’s no gold bars or piles of cash sitting in his house for you to plunder.
I’m not defending the fact that Jeff Bezos isn’t doing enough in terms of charity work compared to the Warren Buffetts and Bill Gates of the world. And it’s not like YOU will directly benefit from his charity work as much as you might thing. But what I’m saying is that unless YOU are also walking the walk, casting the stone at the rich is just showing your true colors: green with envy.