Amazon, Democrats And Republicans

Patrick McCorkle
Sep 4, 2018 · 3 min read

In this day and age of such inspiring political division, it is quite an event when our two lovely political parties agree on anything. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has recently received fresh criticism for not paying his workers enough and the labor conditions of Amazon’s factories while amassing a fortune of over 150 billion.

Senator Bernie Sanders has criticized Mr. Bezos before, but his tweets from last week have prompted a rare company response. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson admonished Mr. Bezos on Friday, arguing that he and other CEOs like him pervert the free market in the form of monopolies. This echoes President Trump’s frequent attacks. These figures are opposites politically, but have found common cause in the form of mega-billionaire Mr. Bezos. How come?

Monopolies are not good for the average citizen. Both parties need ordinary Americans in large numbers or they will be defeated at the ballot box. Hence, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Carlson Mr. Trump and others like them are employing a populist argument to focus the ire of the average citizen towards these financial elites. Usually one party is attacking said elites, and the other defending them, but now we have an united attack.

The behaviors of and wealth accumulated by Amazon and other powerful companies, many from Silicon Valley, do appear to have monopolistic tendencies. These businesses are enormous and it is difficult to comprehend why or how an individual or a small group should have billions and billions of dollars. Smaller companies cannot compete with the already established hegemons, and fold, further increasing wealth inequality. To add insult to injury, the taxpayer has to cover some of the employee benefits for these juggernauts, which is incomprehensible.

As always, be a bit skeptical of such claims until all the evidence is presented. Read Amazon’s company response and see what you think. I am a firm believer in the free market. The founders and investors of Amazon, Uber, Walmart and similar companies deserve to be compensated for their vision and product. They will most likely be far, far wealthier than the ordinary citizen.

However, my support of appropriate compensation means that I do not support corporate handouts. These businesses should pay their employees enough to make ends meet. 33% of a workforce should not be on government benefits. These business need to be investigated, and those who rely on the taxpayer to cover benefits or other worker compensation need to criticized and punished. Give these giants a strong incentive to not screw the taxpayers.

Finally, we must note that this ‘bipartisanship’ is being done not in support of some legislation or cause, but rather in opposition of mega-corporations and their owners. As has been often true in human history, the Republicans and Democrats need a greater foe in order to work together. How long will they see eye to eye? I imagine not long. There will be some initial cooperation, but once the two groups realize how much divides them, the brutal partisanship will return.

So there you have it. Members of both parties are not pleased with the massive wealth and business practices being acquired and employed by figures such as Amazon’s Jeff Bezos. Their dislike of monopolies brings them together for now, but how long will it last?

Let us hope that this issue will allow the Republicans and Democrats all over the country to realize that they can work together. Their intense polarization is almost as bad for the country as monopolies are, ironically enough.

Originally published at theprimacyofpolitics.blogspot.com on September 3, 2018.

Patrick McCorkle

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I am a recent college graduate with a major in Political Science, History and Spanish who has a keen interest in politics. theprimacyofpolitics.blogspot.com