this post was submitted on 19 May 2024
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Work Reform

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Back in the 90s, Jeff Bezos went on record as hoping his employees would wake up on the wrong side of the bed—for the greater good, or for the customer at the very least.

Edit: Courtesy of @[email protected] :

Here’s the archived version to bypass the paywall:

https://archive.is/Uh2yl

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[–] [email protected] 47 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Dude sucks and is ruining the planet, but this quote is taken out of context and if you read beyond the headline you'll see that. He's saying that his employees should "wake up every morning terrified" of losing their customers to competitors. That's just like... a dumb capitalistic aphorism that doesn't really mean anything.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago

sigh. I literally know people who will take this to heart, who already mostly believe this is how companies should operate, and don't need much more " proof" like this.

Yes: if you beat your slaves, they will work harder until they die, at which point you can replace them. It's true. You can be successful this way.

It bugs me to no end that we've created an economic model that measures success by exactly one metric: profit. It's such a shitty situation with a disastrous, unsustainable end; it's just taking a long time for it to play out.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

May he launch himself into orbit and never come back.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Do you think we could put him and Elon Musk and all the other billionaire assholes on the B ark and send them to Mars?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

“And so, after the Great Factory Atrocity committed against the workers by the Billionaire Grey Shirt Army, all Grey Shirts were forced to flee to their luxury orbitals. Thus the curse ‘may he launch himself into orbit and never come back’ entered the common vernacular, often accompanied by the ceremonial breaking of an orbital landing beacon, many of which had been found in a large cache of Grey Shirt supplies buried on Oahu.”

From Chronicle of the Times Before the Great Bankruptcy Wars of 2055

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

Secrets to success:

  1. Have no morals
  2. A large influx of money from your parents
[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

the “self made” billionaire who started Amazon with $300K from his parents and more from his friends

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

This seems a bit disingenuous. I don't like the guy much, but turning a small loan the size of a house into one of the worlds richest companies, while changing how ALL of us shopped online is still an impressive feat.

You could give $300k to everyone in this thread and no one would produce half an Amazon.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

most of us have some morals about how much we’re willing to abuse the workers that did all his work for him …

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

I up arrowed your comment but I disagree a little. You couldn't reach a capitalist apex like Bezos et al without that kind of ruthless drive. However...I would like to think you and I "could" build a modest empire that treated everyone well and the employees felt valued and validated. And the products were something to be proud of. Good service but not at the expense of shaming. Look at, say, Trader Joes up until a couple of years ago or Patagonia. (Side bar: notice how there was a sudden uptick in unionizing at TJs in the last few years at the same time there is explosive growth in stores? Hmm?)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Hasn't he done well for himself!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Fear combined with low wages. reminds me of fucking Russia and China.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Here’s the archived version to bypass the paywall:

https://archive.is/Uh2yl