Bezos Increases his wealth by $13 Billion in 15 minutes

Let me clarify it for you guys, so it doesn't seem vague...

So this amount is tied to his ownership of Amazon stock. The stock price went up. Bezos did not receive $13B. The next day he could lose $13B or more if Amazon say does not meet expectations. This headline is BS.
Bezos did start with money. He's smart, he worked hard and got lucky. I don't fault him for doing well.
However, the system that he worked (and yes he worked it) has serious flaws. We need to fix the flaws. Taxing (meaning moving money from a person or corporation to the government) is NOT the way to fix this. Have you seen what our government spends money on? Oh, yes Bernie will come and everything will be better the day after he takes office.
Bezos got rich by exploiting workers. Putting a cap on executive salary is fine, but what about the people that actually make the money. How about excess profits get distributed to the company employees. what about tying executive pay as some multiple of an index of employee pay (including contractors and temps). If executives want to get rich then the employees should too.
This is better than taxation. Governments are like boats, no matter how much money you spend it just floats.
 
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I don't think the head line is misleading... His wealth goes up and down just like everyone else. His are just bigger swings of course.

Now, how he got that wealthy is of course certainly another story.


But If I only made 13 billy in 5 mins I'd consider myself a damn poor!
 
CFBHome said:
Let me clarify it for you guys, so it doesn't seem vague...

So this amount is tied to his ownership of Amazon stock. The stock price went up. Bezos did not receive $13B. The next day he could lose $13B or more if Amazon say does not meet expectations. This headline is BS.
Bezos did not start with money. He's smart, he worked hard and got lucky. I don't fault him for doing well.
However, the system that he worked (and yes he worked it) has serious flaws. We need to fix the flaws. Taxing (meaning moving money from a person or corporation to the government) is NOT the way to fix this. Have you seen what our government spends money on? Oh, yes Bernie will come and everything will be better the day after he takes office.
Bezos got rich by exploiting workers. Putting a cap on executive salary is fine, but what about the people that actually make the money. How about excess profits get distributed to the company employees. what about tying executive pay as some multiple of an index of employee pay (including contractors and temps). If executives want to get rich then the employees should too.
This is better than taxation. Governments are like boats, no matter how much money you spend it just floats.
Click to expand...
All those employees are free to go start their own companies, work hard, lay it all on the line. They are also free to buy as much Amazon stock as they want so they too can "make money" when stock prices rise. Get out of here with your over-regulation bullshit.
 
Nod4Eight said:
All those employees are free to go start their own companies, work hard, lay it all on the line. They are also free to buy as much Amazon stock as they want so they too can "make money" when stock prices rise. Get out of here with your over-regulation bullshit.
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How many of those employees have the ability to be gifted over $250,000 from wealthy parents and then pull themselves up by the boot straps to start their Amazon?
 
Nod4Eight said:
I don't know, do you? What does that matter anyway?

We should strive for equal opportunity (under the law), not equal outcomes. You can never have both.
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Absolutely zero, or they wouldn't be working there.

I would love equal opportunities, but under the current system you won't have either.

At some point you have to ask when is enough, well.. enough?
 
CFBHome said:
Absolutely zero, or they wouldn't be working there.

I would love equal opportunities, but under the current system you won't have either.

At some point you have to ask when is enough, well.. enough?
Click to expand...
How do they not have equal opportunity, under the law, right now?

What you are asking for is:
1) not fair
B) impossible
3) ignorant

Let's use the NBA as an example... Why can't I have a job and compete in the NBA? I mean, it's completely unfair that Lebron's family gave him a bunch of advantage (in this case he has superior athletic genes, instead of a bunch of money and business acumen.) We should shorten the basket so my white ass can dunk, and tie Lebron's shoelaces together so I can keep up with him. Sounds stupid, right?

Of course some people are going to have advantages that others' don't. That will never change and cannot be leveled - ever. And forcibly taking from others (such as hampering Lebron, or making Bezos pay more than fair market value - remember, no one is forcing these workers to work there, it's a voluntary agreement) is definitely not the answer and is very short sighted.
 
Nod4Eight said:
How do they not have equal opportunity, under the law, right now?

What you are asking for is:
1) not fair
B) impossible
3) ignorant

Let's use the NBA as an example... Why can't I have a job and compete in the NBA? I mean, it's completely unfair that Lebron's family gave him a bunch of advantage (in this case he has superior athletic genes, instead of a bunch of money and business acumen.) We should shorten the basket so my white ass can dunk, and tie Lebron's shoelaces together so I can keep up with him. Sounds stupid, right?

Of course some people are going to have advantages that others' don't. That will never change and cannot be leveled - ever. And forcibly taking from others (such as hampering Lebron, or making Bezos pay more than fair market value - remember, no one is forcing these workers to work there, it's a voluntary agreement) is definitely not the answer and is very short sighted.
Click to expand...


Who says the law is be all end all? There's a reason why we have amended many different laws to improve our society.

Using your example I wonder. Does Lebron deserve to make millions upon millions while those in our military make peanuts?

The point is Bezos is just one of many billionaires/millionaires that have wealth beyond comprehension.. We're arguing that it's not fair to throw shade on Bezos for inaccurate statements about how fast his wealth is growing.

Some progressive ideas are dangerous because they want to make it so the worker ants can maybe go to college, see a doctor, have maternity leave, and retire after they work 40 years without wondering if they have to pick one of these options and suffer for it later (if they are lucky enough to have the choice)?

Is the world really so rigid in this duality of communism vs capitalism that there is no middle ground? We are so afraid of helping the common people together, collectively, as a society, that we are fine with just leaving the world to the wealthiest? It's fine that the wealthy will never wonder what it's like to lose vision in one eye and wonder if you can afford to get it checked?

No one is asking to strip away all the wealth and resources of the world and just let people steal government money to be lazy leeches. We're talking about redistributing wealth to the rest of the country. And here comes "well, when is enough enough? Are you going to give everyone a million dollars? Are you going to pay for everyone's car and alcohol?" It's about letting people have a chance at a life without all the deficiencies that we are already living with everyday.

The system doesn't work right now. Not for everyone. If you have a steady income, good retirement, amazing insurance, and already got your masters degrees, I'm happy for you. But just because the system worked out for you and me, doesn't mean it's working the best it could be. And sitting here arguing about Bezos not being quite as unfathomably rich as people want to say is just keeping the commoners fighting amongst ourselves over bread crumbs.
 
Nod4Eight said:
How do they not have equal opportunity, under the law, right now?

What you are asking for is:
1) not fair
B) impossible
3) ignorant

Let's use the NBA as an example... Why can't I have a job and compete in the NBA? I mean, it's completely unfair that Lebron's family gave him a bunch of advantage (in this case he has superior athletic genes, instead of a bunch of money and business acumen.) We should shorten the basket so my white ass can dunk, and tie Lebron's shoelaces together so I can keep up with him. Sounds stupid, right?

Of course some people are going to have advantages that others' don't. That will never change and cannot be leveled - ever. And forcibly taking from others (such as hampering Lebron, or making Bezos pay more than fair market value - remember, no one is forcing these workers to work there, it's a voluntary agreement) is definitely not the answer and is very short sighted.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't mind a basketball league with an 8 foot rim lol
 
CFBHome said:
Who says the law is be all end all? There's a reason why we have amended many different laws to improve our society.

Using your example I wonder. Does Lebron deserve to make millions upon millions while those in our military make peanuts?

The point is Bezos is just one of many billionaires/millionaires that have wealth beyond comprehension.. We're arguing that it's not fair to throw shade on Bezos for inaccurate statements about how fast his wealth is growing.

Some progressive ideas are dangerous because they want to make it so the worker ants can maybe go to college, see a doctor, have maternity leave, and retire after they work 40 years without wondering if they have to pick one of these options and suffer for it later (if they are lucky enough to have the choice)?

Is the world really so rigid in this duality of communism vs capitalism that there is no middle ground? We are so afraid of helping the common people together, collectively, as a society, that we are fine with just leaving the world to the wealthiest? It's fine that the wealthy will never wonder what it's like to lose vision in one eye and wonder if you can afford to get it checked?

No one is asking to strip away all the wealth and resources of the world and just let people steal government money to be lazy leeches. We're talking about redistributing wealth to the rest of the country. And here comes "well, when is enough enough? Are you going to give everyone a million dollars? Are you going to pay for everyone's car and alcohol?" It's about letting people have a chance at a life without all the deficiencies that we are already living with everyday.

The system doesn't work right now. Not for everyone. If you have a steady income, good retirement, amazing insurance, and already got your masters degrees, I'm happy for you. But just because the system worked out for you and me, doesn't mean it's working the best it could be. And sitting here arguing about Bezos not being quite as unfathomably rich as people want to say is just keeping the commoners fighting amongst ourselves over bread crumbs.
Click to expand...
Ok...
Growing up, we didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out. Single mom, raising 3 boys doing the best that she could. I was raised in poverty. BUT, I had the same opportunities others did to do something about it. I joined the military, learned a trade that would translate to a good paying job in the civilian sector for when J left the military. I had a plan, a goal, and an objective in sight. I make 3-4 times what most of my peers growing up in my neighborhood do. Am I supposed to share what I have EARNED, because they chose to sit on their asses while I worked mine off to get where I’m at? Screw that. Nothing in life is free, and I don’t begrudge anyone a damn thing they have earned, even if it’s millions... good on them! Redistribution of wealth does not work, and will never work.
 
CFBHome said:
Who says the law is be all end all? There's a reason why we have amended many different laws to improve our society.

Using your example I wonder. Does Lebron deserve to make millions upon millions while those in our military make peanuts?

The point is Bezos is just one of many billionaires/millionaires that have wealth beyond comprehension.. We're arguing that it's not fair to throw shade on Bezos for inaccurate statements about how fast his wealth is growing.

Some progressive ideas are dangerous because they want to make it so the worker ants can maybe go to college, see a doctor, have maternity leave, and retire after they work 40 years without wondering if they have to pick one of these options and suffer for it later (if they are lucky enough to have the choice)?

Is the world really so rigid in this duality of communism vs capitalism that there is no middle ground? We are so afraid of helping the common people together, collectively, as a society, that we are fine with just leaving the world to the wealthiest? It's fine that the wealthy will never wonder what it's like to lose vision in one eye and wonder if you can afford to get it checked?

No one is asking to strip away all the wealth and resources of the world and just let people steal government money to be lazy leeches. We're talking about redistributing wealth to the rest of the country. And here comes "well, when is enough enough? Are you going to give everyone a million dollars? Are you going to pay for everyone's car and alcohol?" It's about letting people have a chance at a life without all the deficiencies that we are already living with everyday.

The system doesn't work right now. Not for everyone. If you have a steady income, good retirement, amazing insurance, and already got your masters degrees, I'm happy for you. But just because the system worked out for you and me, doesn't mean it's working the best it could be. And sitting here arguing about Bezos not being quite as unfathomably rich as people want to say is just keeping the commoners fighting amongst ourselves over bread crumbs.
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See bolded above... Yes, I understand, and am 100% against that being mandated.

You look at the system we have and say - it should be this way, we should make it so. I'm, again, 100% against that. That's not freedom. I DO believe that we should be more benevolent, more generous. We should most definitely NOT be compelled to do that by the government.

I'm charitable when I have the means to be. I'm not a rich man, but I do give to those less fortunate. I don't need a nosey Uncle (Sam) to do that for me. If enough people want to redistribute wealth away from Bezos, maybe enough people will stop using Amazon services. That's how a free market society works.
 
Meh, my packages come pretty quickly. So I’m good with it.


What’s funny though, is replace Bezos with a young pro athlete, and then all of a sudden the crying about how much they make ramps up.
 
RTR...USN (ret) said:
Ok...
Growing up, we didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out. Single mom, raising 3 boys doing the best that she could. I was raised in poverty. BUT, I had the same opportunities others did to do something about it. I joined the military, learned a trade that would translate to a good paying job in the civilian sector for when J left the military. I had a plan, a goal, and an objective in sight. I make 3-4 times what most of my peers growing up in my neighborhood do. Am I supposed to share what I have EARNED, because they chose to sit on their asses while I worked mine off to get where I’m at? Screw that. Nothing in life is free, and I don’t begrudge anyone a damn thing they have earned, even if it’s millions... good on them! Redistribution of wealth does not work, and will never work.
Click to expand...


You're not even on the radar. I'm glad you made something quality of yourself with the limited cards you were dealt. But you're chump change to who we are talking about.

I don't want to take anything you've worked for. We aren't talking about millions either, we are talking about billions. Such a huge difference.

The point isn't that Bezos' wealth can jump 13 billion in 15 minutes, the point is that Bezos just sold 1.8 billion dollars of his stocks, which is less than 5% of all the stock he owns. This is less money than he gained selling his stock last year doing something similar. So you could say that's his annual cash out.

The point is Bezos could literally fly to space for $50m, buy an entire island in the Bahamas for $75m, he could buy 1000 houses priced $100,000 and 1000 Tesla Model S cars for each house, he could pay 1000 people $100,000 annually to be personal assistants full-time, and still not even be a third of the way through his annual stock profits.

The point is Bezos is just one of many billionaires/millionaires that have wealth beyond comprehension.

I'm not for taking away anything from the hard working American like yourself. But good golly the single mom working two jobs making under 20k a year shouldn't have to suffer while just a handful have the prosperity. Give everyone an efficient life.
 
Nod4Eight said:
See bolded above... Yes, I understand, and am 100% against that being mandated.

You look at the system we have and say - it should be this way, we should make it so. I'm, again, 100% against that. That's not freedom. I DO believe that we should be more benevolent, more generous. We should most definitely NOT be compelled to do that by the government.

I'm charitable when I have the means to be. I'm not a rich man, but I do give to those less fortunate. I don't need a nosey Uncle (Sam) to do that for me. If enough people want to redistribute wealth away from Bezos, maybe enough people will stop using Amazon services. That's how a free market society works.
Click to expand...


I think you're a reasonable man, and even though I don't know you I do belive you're very generous to others.

I just can't fathom someone making such an insane sum in just fifteen minutes while Americans are dying form preventable causes. Especially those that use tax loop holes to increase their wealth even further. At least pay your fair share.

Maybe it's just me. But hey, that's why I give away 20% of my pay voluntarily anyways.
 
CFBHome said:
I think you're a reasonable man, and even though I don't know you I do belive you're very generous to others.

I just can't fathom someone making such an insane sum in just fifteen minutes while Americans are dying form preventable causes. Especially those that use tax loop holes to increase their wealth even further. At least pay your fair share.

Maybe it's just me. But hey, that's why I give away 20% of my pay voluntarily anyways.
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This is where my problem is. See, those people that we all elect to "represent" us in DC are the ones writing those loopholes into the law. Their wealthy friends paid them to do it through "campaign donations".

Our problem is not with our society, the free market, or capitalism. Our problem is with a corrupt government that we, as a society, don't have the collective balls to fix.
 
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