Current Events > To reach Bezos' net worth while working the minimum wage...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Broseph_Stalin posted...

Wow I can't believe creating a company that provides a consumer surplus to hundreds of millions of people is more lucrative than working a minimum wage job who would have thought????

Minimum wage isnt meant to close the gap between the poor and insanely rich which In this case is one Extreme to the next.

A better argument could be made with a similar comparison this is just silly

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

1. Obscene amounts of wealth like what we see from Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk has to come from somewhere. The billions of dollars they have is billions of dollars in value extracted from the working class. Capitalism is a zero-sum game, after all.

2. Wealth leads to socioeconomic power when there isn't a strong enough government to counterbalance it. Billionaires like Jeff Bezos have an obscene amount of power when it comes to shaping the global landscape and as Kanye West said, no one man should have all that power.

To me it's more that it's unavoidable to have a .01% I'm society's history they've always existed. Not always through money but maybe through royal heritage or government power and position.

So one person having all that power doesn't bother me much because it's not something I can change and I've always focused on making the improvements I can in my life to be in a situation I'm happy in.

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Key posted...

I never understood why wealth disparity bothers people so much. Like yeah this one guy was giving good opportunities and made good decisions from there and now has more money than I could ever dream to have. So what? Like you can still manage to get your own good paying job and be well off. Will you ever be as rich as him? Probably not but you'll never be happy comparing yourself to those who have more.

This is some type of slave mentality lmao.

"It's okay that average guys like me have awful struggles that cause mental diseases and that my life is likely unfufilling and I can't even see the doctor for regular health concerns because it would put me back too much on my mortgage/student loan/car payment"

Guys. It is NOT okay that there are millions of people in the USA that suffer these awful, unstable living conditions when there is a clear path to prosperity for everyone. This country produces the highest GDP by quite a significant margin and STILL there are roughly 37 MILLION US Citizens who live in poverty. (About 10% of the US population)

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Key posted...

Actually I'm serious. Like I just don't get why people are bothered by it

Humans have a natural aversion towards inequity that develops at an early age. If you place two toddlers in a room together and give one all the toys the other will recognize that as not being fair.

This aversion is so strong that humans end up making irrational decisions in pursuit of fairness. I read a study ages ago where people were given the option of working for one of two jobs. The first paid all four workers $30k. The second paid 3 workers $40k but the boss made way over that. People were more likely to take the first job because they believed it was a fairer system, even though everyone ends up making less.

Similarly, you often hear about the gap between the rich and poor in the US yet almost never hear about how much the typical person is actually making and how that compares to other nations. Many people would rather live in a more "equitable" society where everyone is making less.

Key posted...

To me it's more that it's unavoidable to have a .01% I'm society's history they've always existed. Not always through money but maybe through royal heritage or government power and position.

So one person having all that power doesn't bother me much because it's not something I can change and I've always focused on making the improvements I can in my life to be in a situation I'm happy in.

Why not fight to improve everyone's situation?

Our country has the means to do it.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

1. Obscene amounts of wealth like what we see from Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk has to come from somewhere. The billions of dollars they have is billions of dollars in value extracted from the working class. Capitalism is a zero-sum game, after all.

2. Wealth leads to socioeconomic power when there isn't a strong enough government to counterbalance it. Billionaires like Jeff Bezos have an obscene amount of power when it comes to shaping the global landscape and as Kanye West said, no one man should have all that power.

Capitalism is working as its intended.

People become millionaires by being an entrepreneur not by working for others.

Elon Musk became rich by selling companies he founded.

Jeff Bezos had a very secure job and threw it all away just so he could sell books online.

Bill Gates dropped out of college and never worked for anyone in his life.

The list goes on..The system is designed for people to take risks by forming their own business instead of working for others.

kage_53 posted...

The list goes on..The system is designed for people to take risks by forming their own business instead of working for others.

Which means the system isn't designed to benefit the vast majority of people living under it.

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Them building wealth is fine but they need some steep taxes that can't be loopholed out of. And Gates is big into philanthropy so he gets a pass.

Nearly 2/3 of Bezos' wealth is from the value of the Amazon stock he owns. Comparing what he's worth to working a minimum wage job is kind of pointless, because the wealth was generated in a completely different way.

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SwiggitySwoogit posted...

Them building wealth is fine but they need some steep taxes that can't be loopholed out of. And Gates is big into philanthropy so he gets a pass.

nah we dont need Gates philanthropy

we need more tax revenue, so hit him with 30% wealth tax

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s0nicfan posted...

Nearly 2/3 of Bezos' wealth is from the value of the Amazon stock he owns. Comparing what he's worth to working a minimum wage job is kind of pointless, because the wealth was generated in a completely different way.

That's the whole point.

Our system rewards ownership more than it rewards hard-work. That inherently favors those who are already wealthy.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

That's the whole point.

Our system rewards ownership more than it rewards hard-work. That inherently favors those who are already wealthy.

make sure you dont end up siding with Buttigieg or other Democrats who want to tax income more

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Our system rewards ownership more than it rewards hard-work. That inherently favors those who are already wealthy.

Our system rewards innovation over task, yes. Because the first actually makes society wealthier overall.

RchHomieQuanChi posted...

That's the whole point.

Our system rewards ownership more than it rewards hard-work. That inherently favors those who are already wealthy.

What's your definition of hard work? Let's compare Bezos to an Amazon worker at a factory. Is someone who has to box things very aggressively 40 hours a week harder working than someone who owns the entire company? Let's say bezos regularly works 50 hours a week, or 60 hours. Does that mean he's harder working than someone who works 40?

And let's say for a second that the boxer is the harder worker. Are you suggesting that the boxer should be making more money than bezos? Does the risk and reward involved in the decision-making not factor into the value of the labor?

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Which means the system isn't designed to benefit the vast majority of people living under it.

Actually it is. People just need to have a skill set. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are good at math and engineering.

Broseph_Stalin posted...

Our system rewards innovation over task, yes. Because the first actually makes society wealthier overall.

This is not true. You can be a millionaire without ever having an original idea in your life, so long as you own things that make money.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

That's the whole point.

Our system rewards ownership more than it rewards hard-work. That inherently favors those who are already wealthy.

Every system favors this. How you define "ownership" and "wealthy" through economic, legal or militaristic terms is the only distinction.

There will always be the very powerful/rich/influential. Focusing on them is missing the point.

What we need is less poor and more middle class.

And yes, that does include taxing the wealthy and redistribution.


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https://i.imgur.com/z8m6W21.gif

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kage_53 posted...

Actually it is. People just need to have a skill set. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are good at math and engineering.

A lot of people are good at math and engineering, but they aren't billionaires.

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kage_53 posted...

Actually it is. People just need to have a skill set. Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are good at math and engineering.

Only Bill Gates is good at those things. Musk didn't do shit and neither did Bezos.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

This is not true. You can be a millionaire without ever having an original idea in your life, so long as you own things that make money.

you need to take risks though, most people are not willing to lose money

ROOTFayth posted...

you need to take risks though, most people are not willing to lose money

And the rich are willing to take bigger risks because losing money isn't as crippling for them as it is for others.

Amazon would not be where it is today if Bezos didn't have a family that was willing to loan him $300,000 to fund his idea

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

And the rich are willing to take bigger risks because losing money isn't as crippling for them as it is for others.

The system is literally set up to keep the poor in their place, and the rich out of trouble.

It's obvious in Capitalism for sure, but it's also insidious in other systems as well. Until humans themselves are no longer the ones making decisions, this kind of inequality will creep into every system we attempt.


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Every corporation imps each other.

Jeff Bezos treats his workers like SHIT.

And he's one of the richest men in the world.

Guess what happens.

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Yea, its easy to say take risks when whats at stake isnt your home or food for your kids.

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DarkRoast posted...

The system is literally set up to keep the poor in their place, and the rich out of trouble.

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ROOTFayth posted...

you need to take risks though, most people are not willing to lose money

All you need is enough money to invest them in a diverse, non-risky way. Even if some of your investments fail, on average you'll make a steady profit.

And even if you somehow lose all the money you invested, you'll only end up where poor people are already. All you risk losing is a privilege most people don't even have.

Poor people, meanwhile, risk crippling financial damage from health care or car repairs constantly.

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If you live in America or Europe and can go to college/university, leverage that to land into a well-paying career.

any well-paying career

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pure_temper posted...

If you live in America or Europe and can go to college/university, leverage that to land into a well-paying career.

any well-paying career

You mean Europe.

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MI4 REAL posted...

You mean Europe.

im Romanian and no, I definitely meant America or Europe

Australia and Canada too

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I'm not really arguing against taxes for the rich btw. In fact for the. Out part I'm pretty left leaning and support most of thse ideas.. My point was more when people compare themselves to bezos with things like the average person will never be close to this much. Like thats true but you'll also never be happy comparing yourself to those who have more. Like I agree with saying people shouldn't go hungry but not necessarily that billionaires shouldn't exist as I don't think that's necessarily the problem

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DarkRoast posted...

The system is literally set up to keep the poor in their place,

https://www.businessinsider.com/billionaires-who-came-from-nothing-2013-12?op=1

pure_temper posted...

If you live in America or Europe and can go to college/university, leverage that to land into a well-paying career.

any well-paying career

Any recent college-grad will tell you how useless this advice is

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Billionaires and capitalism are the biggest reason why poor and hungry people exist in large numbers here in America and around the world.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any recent college-grad will tell you how useless this advice is

i wont take you seriously if you expect me to change good advice because of the pandemic

dont make a mountain out of a molehill. covid notwithstanding, a solid career is an option for anyone who can go to college

it just means picking the hard stuff that pays well

tradeschool is also a good option

if someone is going to spend time at college anyway, might as well pick from the options that will pay well

ive never heard of a nurse for example not finding work, even during covid

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any recent college-grad will tell you how useless this advice is

just go and get a career, bro

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

This is not true. You can be a millionaire without ever having an original idea in your life, so long as you own things that make money.

You still have to provide value.

Bezos' net worth is just the estimated value of stock he owns.
Amazon stock is worthless if the company isn't successful.
The company is successful because it provides such a large consumer surplus to people.

Capitalism is NOT a zero-sum game.

NinjaWarrior455 posted...

Billionaires and capitalism are the biggest reason why poor and hungry people exist in large numbers here in America and around the world.

There is a direct correlation between capitalism and declining poverty actually.

pure_temper posted...

i wont take you seriously if you expect me to change good advice because of the pandemic

Saying "If you can go to college, get a good job" is not good advice lol.

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College is now worthless so i hear.

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Hurry up and piss in that bottle your break is taking way too long

that bottle on your break.

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Saying "If you can go to college, get a good job" is not good advice lol.

considering the number of people who would otherwise squander those 4 years on a worthless degree, its excellent advice

it should be about developing into someone who provides value in what is in demand

and then you make a lot more than min wage

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RchHomieQuanChi posted...

Any recent college-grad will tell you how useless this advice is

Yeah....from people who graduated in obscure majors such as art history. Meanwhile people who graduated with computer science or engineering are getting paid almost 60k for an entry level position with no prior experience.

Broseph_Stalin posted...

There is a direct correlation between capitalism and declining poverty actually.

You've said this many times before and provided evidence in the past to back it up. It never changes anyone's mind. At this point, you might as well start treating some of these posters like economy flat earthers. No amount of actual evidence is going to change their opinion.

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s0nicfan posted...

You've said this many times before and provided evidence in the past to back it up. It never changes anyone's mind. At this point, you might as well start treating some of these posters like economy flat earthers. No amount of actual evidence is going to change their opinion.

keep in mind that Broseph is exactly like the people you are describing, whenever he fails to address arguments against his views even when theres evidence provided

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s0nicfan posted...

What's your definition of hard work? Let's compare Bezos to an Amazon worker at a factory. Is someone who has to box things very aggressively 40 hours a week harder working than someone who owns the entire company? Let's say bezos regularly works 50 hours a week, or 60 hours. Does that mean he's harder working than someone who works 40?

It depends on how much wealth they generate for said company. And someone in Bezos or some other position near his position obviously generates far more then a warehouse employee.

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NinjaWarrior455 posted...

Billionaires and capitalism are the biggest reason why poor and hungry people exist in large numbers here in America and around the world.

The next level of thinking is when you realize the entire concept of economic systems is a mechanism by which a select few hold power, and that class conflict is one of many ways they keep you distracted from that realization.

As long as you're blaming billionaires, capitalism, socialism, etc for the existence of the proletariat and the poor, you're not focusing on the ones who actually have said power.

It's not really about money. That's just the numerical value attached to a deeper sociopolitical power.


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pure_temper posted...

keep in mind that Broseph is exactly like the people you are describing, whenever he fails to address arguments against his views even when theres evidence provided

that doesn't influence whether or not other people believe the things he posts when they are sourced. It just means that they're no better than their accusations against him.

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