World's Richest Man Uses His Newspaper To Threaten Politicians- Jeffrey Bezos of Amazon

Jeffrey Preston Bezos, the World's Richest Man [1], likes to pretend that he's a hands-off owner of the Washington Post, a conceit that the bourgeois propaganda system (aka "the media") respectfully indulges him in. The Post is the elite daily paper of the of the empire's capital city, Washington, D.C. So it could be called The Daily Diary of U.S. Imperialism.

Unsurprisingly, turns out that's a lie.

Today he used his paper to send a warning/threat to politicians in New York City who are outraged at the $3.7 billion dollar bribe that the governor of New York State, Andrew "Son of Mario" Cuomo, and the NYC mayor, Bill "Big Liberal" deBlasio, handed Bezos to locate part of his operation in the city- something astute observers thought he was going to do out of necessity without bribes. (Since both Cuomo and deBlasio have presidential ambitions, and such ambitions could be aided by favorable treatment by Bezos' paper, that is one possible motive for the gigantic bribe in the form of tax exemptions and other emoluments.)

Now the Washington Post is running an article claiming that Amazon was considering reneging on its promise to set up shop in the largest city in the U.S., which is a leading global technology center in its own right, a key consideration for Amazon, which of course as an Internet company needs large numbers of digital drone workers. It cited the gripes by NYC politicians as the reason for this alleged reconsideration. [2]

Of course this greedy asshole's bluff should be called.

Bezos' rag, and Cuomo and deBlasio, speak of "25,000 jobs" that hang in the balance. How many of these jobs would actually be high paying, and how many slots would be filled by workers moving to NYC from elsewhere, is never discussed by the hypesters.

Ironically, while Bezos is extorting New York, he's complaining that American Media Inc. is extorting him. (Probably it is. I'll deal with that in another essay.)

Amazon's new digs, if they come to fruition, will strain existing infrastructure, which it won't contribute to due to the tax "relief" it's being gifted, will displace existing businesses and tenants, and drive up rents in the area.

Big favor.

That's what happens in a dog-eat-dog society of "winners" and "losers."

"I'm so RICH it's FUNNY!"

1]  Bezos has been "the world's richest man" since at least July 2017. Most of his wealth is tied to the price of the stock of Amazon Corporation.  His wealth hit a peak of $150 billion (1,500 millions) last year. As of the beginning of 2019, it is estimated to be a mere $125 billion. 

But don't cry for him. As of today, his mound of moolah is back up to $134 billion. 

"Bloomberg Billionaires Index," February 8, 2019.

"These are the 50 richest people in the world right now," Business Insider, January 4, 2019.

2]  "Facing opposition, Amazon reconsiders NY headquarters site, two officials say," Washington Post, February 8, 2019, listed under the misleading heading "Virginia Politics.