.@JeffBezos just announced his long-awaited philanthropic plan.
Two quick observations, and more thoughts later.https://twitter.com/JeffBezos/status/1040253796293795842 …
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There is a palliative approach to this problem of precarious, squeezed employment. But there is also potential for real change. The reinvention of unions. A new wave of labor reforms like the ones that brought us the 8-hour workday and job safety, etc.
Givers often ask what they can do. But imagine if @JeffBezos set an example of asking what is rarely asked:
What am I already doing? How am I involved in the problems? What could I do to solve them for all, at the root, even if that means my world, not just the world, changing?
But his choices here reveal his underlying ethos. He specifically targets poor children, helping poor adults only if they happen to be in a family with poor children. He believes he deserves his wealth and poor adults don’t deserve any more than what they get.
By this belief system, poor adults exist in order to be exploited by the rich: that is their purpose. Allowing children the appearance of class mobility by giving them montessori-inspired preschools offers a thin veneer of acceptability to a ruthless status quo.
A lot of those billions could go to paying his employees a living wage and better. Then maybe they can afford a better life, be relieved of financial anxiety enough to engage in their communities,and create the changes they need themselves.
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