Amazon? Where is Jeff Bezos?

For the record, I am an Amazon, and correspondingly a Jeff Bezos, fan. Contrary to how the radical left portray wealth as “Evil”, I actually believe that people that take risks, innovate, and create value that people are then willing to pay for, should be rewarded. The bigger the innovation, the greater the reward.  Capitalism driving innovation is what creates wealth and is why we have things like Amazon. Without the reward of innovation, then innovation would cease and the next Amazon would not be created. In the case of Jeff Bezos, it took years, but in the end his hard work and determination resulted in him becoming the world’s wealthiest person. And I am totally ok with that. Capitalism works. Bezos created innovation that has literally transformed the world. The way we shop, the way we save money, the access we have to products, has all been changed forever. And for the better. To have it the radical lefts way, you need to think about a world with no Amazon. Imagine not having Amazon today. Saying it a different way: Socialism doesn’t drive innovation…Capitalism does! The point of this is to recognize that Amazon is a transformative innovation and the person that invented it, should make a ton of money. Everyday we confirm that with our wallets by accessing Amazon to fulfill our needs. Pre COVID, Amazon had become an integral part of each of our lives. Saving us time, money, and convenience. You can’t deny it.

Then COVID comes along and low and behold Amazon becomes even more important in our lives. Our dependency on Amazon triples in the blink of an eye. With COVID shutting down the world, virtually all of our previous brick and mortar style choices for our retail needs are closed. Gone. And overnight Amazon explodes into the primary retail shopping market in the United States. Amazon has hired 100,000 people to deal with the increase. And two-day shipping is virtually non-existent due to the huge demand on Amazon to fulfill America’s needs. Leadtime’s are now 5 plus days for basic stuff. Amazon is on fire with more business than ever. Shipping companies are working 7 days a week. UPS, FedEx all report shipping volume greater than typical Christmas time shipping. The stock price for Amazon is a clear indicator of the growth of sales at Amazon this year:  January 2 = $1,898.01; February 2 - $2,170.22; March 12 = $1,676.60; April 16 = $2,380.

So, here’s the question: Where is Jeff Bezos?? The worlds wealthiest man has become wealthier as a result of COVID – 19. This year, YTD, Jeff Bezos personal wealth has increased by $23.6 billion. I would say the majority, if not all, of Americans have less personal wealth than they had at the start of the year. Check your 401k statements. You most certainly must be feeling the pain of losing money. Now I’m sure his wealth would have increased a certain amount this year even without COVID. So not all of the $23.6 can be attributed to COVID, but for sure the lion’s share of it has. So why under these circumstances wouldn’t the worlds wealthiest man, the person whom has made $23.6 billion during a pandemic wherein his company was a huge beneficiary of this tragedy, donate oh let’s say a billion dollars? A lousy billion dollars. The money has come to him basically as a gift of the pandemic and partially out of our government’s decision to virtually shut down all of Amazons traditional competition overnight. Did Bezos innovation have anything to do with our governments decisions to shut down virtually everything? But yet he is being rewarded for that.

Bezos not donating a significant sum of money to the COVID cause is about as close to criminal behavior as I can think of. I’m appealing to you Mr. Bezos: Please show the world you have a soul and a heart. Give some of the money to a good cause.

So, I’ve gone from a Bezos fan to a Bezos critic. I will continue however to be a hypocrite and begrudgingly use Amazon and thereby continue to fill Jeff Bezos pockets with my money.

After all we are in an Amazon world!!