Yes. 365 and a quarter days Gary...Does that include leap years?
How good is Amazon
- Thread starter Blister
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billw
The Tattooed One
You have to remember that much of Bezos' wealth is on paper, quite often people think he could just divvy it up and people could turn it into cash to spend in the economy. OK that *might* be theoretically possible, but it's so far beyond the realms of reality that it's irrelevant.
The guy started Amazon on his own, in his garage. It grew wildly. He's American. America loves winners, hates taxes, and he's a winner who doesn't pay much tax. It's not actually his FAULT he is very rich, it's his REWARD for entrepreneurship. The tax issue is the fault of society and the governments they vote for.
If people shouldn't have as much wealth as him - where would you draw the line? Can't have more than a million? Plenty of pensioners in the UK are millionaires by virtue of their home, and I don't see people with pitchforks at their gates demanding to be given a few bricks and a windowframe. Maybe Ā£10m is the limit? OK that'll work.....until people become worth Ā£10m then they'll just go live somewhere else. What about the whole world hounding rich people until there's equality?
I could go on, but there's no point.
The guy started Amazon on his own, in his garage. It grew wildly. He's American. America loves winners, hates taxes, and he's a winner who doesn't pay much tax. It's not actually his FAULT he is very rich, it's his REWARD for entrepreneurship. The tax issue is the fault of society and the governments they vote for.
If people shouldn't have as much wealth as him - where would you draw the line? Can't have more than a million? Plenty of pensioners in the UK are millionaires by virtue of their home, and I don't see people with pitchforks at their gates demanding to be given a few bricks and a windowframe. Maybe Ā£10m is the limit? OK that'll work.....until people become worth Ā£10m then they'll just go live somewhere else. What about the whole world hounding rich people until there's equality?
I could go on, but there's no point.
billw
The Tattooed One
BTW I love Amazon - why would I pay Ā£10 for something in a shop where I have to pay to get the bus, take time out of my day, etc etc, when I can pay Ā£9 and it arrives on my doorstep in 24 hours?
Terry - Somerset
Established Member
A somewhat philosophical view.
Money is unambiguous - you can (if you want) count it, see it, feel it. It is an objective measure of success. $160bn is always bigger the $150bn.
A little like an athlete - first beats second 0.1 seconds in the 100m dash. One lost, one won. As far as I am concerned they both ran very fast.
Nobody has come up with an objective way to measure public good. Is building fresh water supplies more worthy than building schools in the third world. Aids treatment or mine clearance. Solving food poverty or a working sewage system, etc.
All very worthy but there is no clear donor winner!
Money is unambiguous - you can (if you want) count it, see it, feel it. It is an objective measure of success. $160bn is always bigger the $150bn.
A little like an athlete - first beats second 0.1 seconds in the 100m dash. One lost, one won. As far as I am concerned they both ran very fast.
Nobody has come up with an objective way to measure public good. Is building fresh water supplies more worthy than building schools in the third world. Aids treatment or mine clearance. Solving food poverty or a working sewage system, etc.
All very worthy but there is no clear donor winner!
TheUnicorn
Established Member
I agree, legal tax avoidance is just common sense, that said the government should be doing everything they can to take everything they are owed, and they should be looking after the worker's rights
DBT85
Established Member
That would mean taking it from their mates as well.
TheUnicorn
Established Member
True, but the fault lies with the system and its loopholes
DBT85
Established Member
Absolutely.
Peri
Established Member
Amazon - tbh I love the fact I can sit here at 2am in my boxers and spend Ā£150 on crap essential items for my shed, that'll get here tomorrow.
My elderly Mother (who lives 50 miles away and doesn't have the internet) phoned me last Sunday morning wondering where to get a pet related item. I ordered it for her while we spoke and she received it within 10 hours - on a Sunday! That's just voodoo.
My elderly Mother (who lives 50 miles away and doesn't have the internet) phoned me last Sunday morning wondering where to get a pet related item. I ordered it for her while we spoke and she received it within 10 hours - on a Sunday! That's just voodoo.
Phil Pascoe
Established Member
Often the people who say we should support local shops are the people who have local shops to support. If this subject comes up in the on line press you can virtually guarantee when you read an article or letter saying this the address will be London, Birmingham etc. not somewhere out in the sticks.
Precisely. And that's assuming the item can be found, anyway. The last time I had this conversation I looked at my Amazon history and eight out of the previous ten items bought couldn't have been bought anywhere locally anyway.
Trainee neophyte
Established Member
The very wealthy pay no tax because the rules allow them to. The people who make the rules answer not to the voters, but to the people who fund their political parties. If you pay millions to support (or bribe, if you prefer) politicians, it would only be because you make more money that way. It's just business. The USA has devolved into a bizarre cesspit of open corruption, but almost all "democracies" work the same way, just less obviously.
I said "almost all" democracies - but does anyone know of one that isn't manipulated and corrupt?
Perhaps Iceland? I've never been, so can't really comment.
I said "almost all" democracies - but does anyone know of one that isn't manipulated and corrupt?
Perhaps Iceland? I've never been, so can't really comment.
Moriwaki
Member
M
i too must agree the negative side of Amazon also makes me look for alternatives
TheUnicorn
Established Member
I agree, the problem a lot of the time is finding them
billw
The Tattooed One
It's not just the democracies either. Pretty much every form of government is corrupt - well I say it's the "form of government" but that's not really true, it's the people that exploit the form of government.
Most successful companies have dubious practice's built in and most are not driven from the top, or possibly even known about at the top, the financial section of the company would not be doing its job if it did not cut expenditure to the absolute minimum.
I live rurally enough that I have to get in the car to do anything outside the household, even go to the local butcher's, which by the way are award winning, but the pandemic has meant that the Tesco deliveries have given me everything I need, and even if this pandemic pass's I will keep using them, access to my local high street is nigh on impossible with the parking restrictions and cost involved putting the price of whatever I buy up by a considerable amount, I used to buy my suits from an independent trader in Canterbury, they where involved with the local trade association and where aghast at the fact that they where the only independent trader left in Canterbury as all the others had been priced out of their business by the local council putting rents and business rates beyond their means, is it any wonder that most of my shopping is on-line, more convenient, in the most part quicker and nearly all products available.
I live rurally enough that I have to get in the car to do anything outside the household, even go to the local butcher's, which by the way are award winning, but the pandemic has meant that the Tesco deliveries have given me everything I need, and even if this pandemic pass's I will keep using them, access to my local high street is nigh on impossible with the parking restrictions and cost involved putting the price of whatever I buy up by a considerable amount, I used to buy my suits from an independent trader in Canterbury, they where involved with the local trade association and where aghast at the fact that they where the only independent trader left in Canterbury as all the others had been priced out of their business by the local council putting rents and business rates beyond their means, is it any wonder that most of my shopping is on-line, more convenient, in the most part quicker and nearly all products available.
TheUnicorn
Established Member
very true, as shown by the church's unknowing investment in payday loans a few years ago
still in the case of Amazon I'm pretty sure that the dubious practises are well known at the top, but until morality and legality are more closely alligned they will go on
Alex H
Established Member
Donald Sinclair
Established Member
If you have batteries and charger for more recent 18 volt cordless tools (e.g. Bosch or Makita) you could consider adapting your 10+ year old Bosh Battery to hold either a Bosch or Makita battery.
A similar modification has given my Panasonic circular saw a new lease of life.
Cooper
Established Member
Has anyone done this? I watched a youtube about replacing nicad with Lion but there was such a lot of connecting to a complicated circuit board and spot welding that put it out of my league.
Droogs
Not the Sharpest Moderator in the box
you can buy adapter plates for drills etc. here are some examples
https://struggleville.net/adapters/
https://struggleville.net/adapters/
