President Donald Trump
I assume it's still acceptable to have a Trump thread in a Politics forum?
So this is an obvious lie - basically aimed at
This is a really bad idea.
btw, we already have a delivery infrastructure. It just isn't nearly as good because, well, it's the government.
nope, we give amazon 11.6 billion each year in subsidies, that's why they can do free shipping
Every single penny that the govt cuts from its budget is one less penny that tax payers will have to pay back. Remember that the govt does not build and sell cars, microchips, ChapStick or hot dogs. Every penny the govt spends come from those that work outside of the govt.
Except they took those pennies and reallocated them to billionaire's pockets, so no savings.
Yeah, inflation couldn't have come from the govt shutting down parts of the economy, printing money and (figuratively) throwing sais money out of helicopters during/after covid.
Trump checks, eh?
indeed it's not annual, still the point stands
This is a really bad idea.
btw, we already have a delivery infrastructure. It just isn't nearly as good because, well, it's the government.
A really bad idea... if you're Jeff Bezos' money manager, maybe. A blatantly good idea if the goal is to improve material conditions for all Americans. Your next claim may as well have come out of the mouth of Ben Shapiro or JD Vance. Could the reason "it isn't nearly as good" be because some 90% of the political class defunds and attacks such measures at every opportunity? No, you're right, "GOVERNMENT BAD". Does the fact that various governments across the world fulfill people's needs to a vastly stronger degree than we do, while maintaining their prosperous societies as a whole, give you any pause?
Man... maybe at one point in my lifetime I won't live under a paradigm where even centrists libs like biggerboat hold every plank of conservative economic thought as clear truths. Gross.
Jeff Bezos is worth 280 billion dollars. 771,000 Americans experienced homelessness in 2024. If anybody can look at these two facts side-by-side and NOT come to the conclusion that we very desperately need to relieve Bezos of "his"* wealth and ship it to those in extreme need, I don't want to have anything to do with you.
*built upon the blood, sweat, tears, broken bodies and even deaths of his workers
indeed it's not annual, still the point stands
There are quite a few subsidies, grants, tax breaks, and incentives that Amazon receives, but they also bring a lot of business, taxes, economic activity, jobs, so that’s something that the cities/states provide as incentives to bring along Amazon, or are offering passively as incentives that Amazon takes advantage of.
I don’t think this is why Amazon is able to offer free shipping. That they offer free shipping is why they are so popular and in high demand as a business.
Not to make it out as if Amazon is some saint. They obviously have had exploitative practices that are widely criticized, and have used their market share to bully smaller competitors out of business or onto their platforms.
A really bad idea... if you're Jeff Bezos' money manager, maybe. A blatantly good idea if the goal is to improve material conditions for all Americans. Your next claim may as well have come out of the mouth of Ben Shapiro or JD Vance. Could the reason "it isn't nearly as good" be because some 90% of the political class defunds and attacks such measures at every opportunity?
I don't believe "government bad" by any means. It has a place. A very big place. It just doesn't do some things as well as the private sector. In this particular case you simply cannot argue that the USPS is anywhere near as efficient as amazon. Not even close.
"Various governments" that fulfill people's needs well also have a private sector. I cannot think of one that operates well when all industry is run by the government. Pure socialism has failed every time it has been tried.
Amazon delivery "infrastructure" is bullshit. If you want to nationalize something effective go for the AWS infrastructure. That's how Amazon gets their hands on all venture capital, etc.
Jeff Bezos is worth 280 billion dollars. 771,000 Americans experienced homelessness in 2024. If anybody can look at these two facts side-by-side and NOT come to the conclusion that we very desperately need to relieve Bezos of "his"* wealth and ship it to those in extreme need, I don't want to have anything to do with you.*built upon the blood, sweat, tears, broken bodies and
Dude, I've been arguing this point as long as I've posted here. I just don't think the solution is the government takes over everything.
I don't believe "government bad" by any means. It has a place. A very big place. It just doesn't do some things as well as the private sector. In this particular case you simply cannot argue that the USPS is anywhere near as efficient as amazon. Not even close."Various governments" that fulfill people's needs well also have a private sector. I cannot think of one that ope
I indeed would not argue that the USPS is as efficient as Amazon. We're operating under different priors. Mine is that ensuring that everybody (speaking worldwide, as the US is far from the only failing country in this regard) having access to a universal and high-quality system of distribution of goods is the important thing here, not that the industry involved meets some satisfactory measure of efficiency.
Socialism means that the production of goods/services and the distribution of funds from that production is publicly owned. The fact that the Soviet Union collapsed or that Cuba isn't able to shake off decades of severe economic sanctions from the world's superpower and create a prosperous and balanced system of wealth distribution doesn't mean that "pure socialism has failed every time it has been tried". To think otherwise would be very reductive and myopic.
For the record, I'm not a guy who cares very much about "theory", or debating the economic merits of various nations (exactly zero of which I have much affection for), or the endless quibbling between the various economic ideologies. I think this is far simpler. Some people have too much money. We need to take it from them and give it to the people who have not enough money. This would make the average human experience much more fulfilling and healthier, while requiring far fewer humans to be essentially worked to death for the economy to keep churning along. Easy game.
Dude, I've been arguing this point as long as I've posted here. I just don't think the solution is the government takes over everything.
I didn't mean to imply that you in particular thought otherwise regarding the obscenity of the wealth of the uber-rich. I was speaking generally and didn't properly separate that thought from our conversation. I apologize if I came across that way. I do think that you regard conservative economic orthodoxy as inherently reasonable, but that's not necessarily the same thing.
Amazon isn’t a replacement for USPS nor is it trying to be. USPS is to ensure everyone gets mail no matter their location. Amazon simply can’t do that.
Amazon isn’t a replacement for USPS nor is it trying to be. USPS is to ensure everyone gets mail no matter their location. Amazon simply can’t do that.
True. No profit-seeking enterprise would necessarily ensure everyone gets their mail no matter their location, as doing so would directly contradict the essential capitalist idea of maximizing profits for the owners/stakeholders of the firms in question.
indeed it's not annual, still the point stands
The govt could also subsidize their workers instead of free shipping if they wanted to - which you could argue would prolly be better, or just do UBI. But subsidies is a far cry from nationalizing obv.
But a big part of nationalizing is to offer something vitally important at a cost if need be, like transportation or Healthcare. It should be obv that nationalizing amazon wouldn't make them more efficient and I get that that may not really be the concerning issue anyway, but youve got the taxable revenue stream to supplement either the workers or to possibly regulate them. If the govt doesnt want to bother with any of thoae things because they are in cahoots with the busineeses or something then they arent going adequately provide the same aervice th the entire world at the same rate because its the same stupid people
Again, Healthcare is way better
Instead of confiscating Amazon.com or AWS, put them in charge of healthcare and let them cut costs in half.
lol no one with a brain sees BTC as an actual investment vehicle - I know you're probably googling everyday to find something to post against Trump, but think you dropped the ball here my man. What we actually care about is the stock market soaring, mortgage rates dropping, the 25k daytrader rule being removed today - good try though 😀
Beginning to think you suffer from SRMDS. Seeing it more and more from your types. Pretty sad, man. There’s really more to life
Probably not yours, specifically, but more of a general thought for most people
Instead of confiscating Amazon.com or AWS, put them in charge of healthcare and let them cut costs in half.
There would be a mass exodus of physicians becoming plumbers or sales reps for pharmaceuticals.
Jeff Bezos is worth 280 billion dollars. 771,000 Americans experienced homelessness in 2024. If anybody can look at these two facts side-by-side and NOT come to the conclusion that we very desperately need to relieve Bezos of "his"* wealth and ship it to those in extreme need, I don't want to have anything to do with you.*built upon the blood, sweat, tears, broken bodies and
I guess we're done then!
There are quite a few subsidies, grants, tax breaks, and incentives that Amazon receives, but they also bring a lot of business, taxes, economic activity, jobs, so that’s something that the cities/states provide as incentives to bring along Amazon, or are offering passively as incentives that Amazon takes advantage of.I don’t think this is why Amazon is able to offer free shipp
I think I only get free shipping because I pay $16 for Amazon Prime every month.
Do you honestly believe Jeff Bezos, who could live comfortably, even extravagantly, for a thousand years with 1 billion dollars should get to own 262 times that while other people actually starve through no fault of their own? Do you honestly even think he's done something worthy of that?
I will never understand why anyone would think that. It just has to be a shocking lack of empathy (like sociopath level) or a lack of imagination. I have a hard time believing a normal (non-sociopathic) person could be put in physical place where they could look to their right and see humans starving and dying (this exists, undeniably), and then to their left and see Bezos with 262 billion dollars and not think, hey you know what might be a good idea?
Just wild.
False Consciousness. The opposite of Class Consciousness. The thing that makes people with no capital love Capitalism.
I think this is far simpler. Some people have too much money. We need to take it from them and give it to the people who have not enough money. This would make the average human experience much more fulfilling and healthier, while requiring far fewer humans to be essentially worked to death for the economy to keep churning along. Easy game.
I don't think you can promote this view without getting into the details. The main reason why your view seems "simple" is because you are not addressing the complexities of bringing your world into existence.
A few obvious questions are:
Do you intend to seize wealth by changing the law or ignoring the law?
If you plan to change the law, how do you plan to overcome the apparent lack of public will to change the law in much of the world?
If you intend to ignore the law, how much force are you willing to apply and how much violence are you willing to tolerate? Do you have a plan for restoring public confidence in the rule of law or is the plan to simply achieve objectives through overwhelming force in perpetuity?
How do you deal with the extreme global mobility of the world's wealthiest citizens? Obviously that doesn't matter as much if you are able to bend the entire globe to your view more or less at the same time. But that is wildly unlikely. Put another way, imagine that you have a plan in the works to seize 98% of the wealth of U.S. billionaires. They obviously will see this plan coming and move as much of their wealth outside the reach of the United States as they possibly can and they will all live in Dubai or wherever. (Getting out of equity interests in U.S. companies that would be at risk of seizure obviously would be more difficult for the billionaires, but people like Jeff Bezos would remain unimaginably wealthy.)
If people sense that that large scale public seizures of public companies are imminent, I'm sure the market would tank precipitously. People who thought they had a few hundred thousand dollars saved will now face a very different reality. I'm talking about the schoolteachers, nurses, and electricians of the world, not the uber wealthy. How do you get these people on board with your plan?
It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of Capitalism, but I know the answer to this one! The same way you get any population on board with your political agenda. Propaganda.
