Jeff Bezos Wants Ideas for Philanthropy, So He Asked Twitter

&quot;let Amazon workers finally unionize.&quot; - @demsocialists<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;DemSocialists&#x2F;status&#x2F;875511888049778688" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;twitter.com&#x2F;DemSocialists&#x2F;status&#x2F;875511888049778688</a>

Because ideas are free, here is one: as Bezos, I would like to know what things I could do to improve the world, both with my time or with my money; I would like some kind of social platform where I could learn about issues, propose solutions, and make them happen. In other words, a massive issue-tracker for the outside world.

Feels gimmicky. How is he planning to parse through millions of responses? Instead talk to leading non profits and get their advice or perhaps just help fund them instead of creating a new one. World does not need a new charity organization. Just help the ones that are finding it hard to raise money.<p>If I were Bezos, I would fund Elon Musk so Elon can solve as many problems as possible without worrying about investors.

Link to request for ideas: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.twitter.com&#x2F;JeffBezos&#x2F;status&#x2F;875418348598603776" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.twitter.com&#x2F;JeffBezos&#x2F;status&#x2F;875418348598603776</a>

Philanthropy has a net benefit to the world if it can re-allocate labor, capital allocated to unproductive activities to activities which are perceived to improve the human experience.<p>If the philanthropy is spent on re-allocating labor, capital allocated to existing productive activities (e.g. rice farming, bridge maintenance), to activities which are perceived to improve the human experience, there&#x27;s a big chance it would cause harm to society instead.

Give me 10k, and I&#x27;ll refinance my mortgage, to remove the PMI I&#x27;m currently paying, and then spend an additional $150 per month on Amazon.

Establish an Endowment whose goal would be to re-train people who are looking to get trained with in-demand skills to off-set the dislocation of labor due to the disruption our workforce will experience due to automation. Teach old dogs new skills&#x2F;vocations.

Use your power to help get universal health care insurance&#x2F;coverage.<p>Hell, all the contract, part time, whatever workers at your warehouses sure could use it.<p>Right here, right now, I&#x27;m not even talking about wage levels and all the rest.<p>Just help ensure that people, regardless of their standing in life, can stay basically healthy. In the U.S.<p>Bigger goal: Around the world.<p>THAT would be a worthwhile goal, and legacy.

I believe that traditionally this concept of funding things in the public&#x27;s interest is called taxes + democracy.

Give money to people. Let them decide. Hell, have a giant crowdfunding voting platform. Philanthro-capitalism is the absolute worst way to distribute resources. One unfathomably wealthy person is not positioned in any way to rationally or appropriately distribute resources for humanitarian concerns.

They say the best ideas can come from anyone and anywhere, I guess why not Twitter? Probably not most of our first choice but hey, theoretically something good could come up.

Instead of a homeless shelter, how about more actual affordable housing? So people can get out of the shelters and off the streets.

Bezos is being very logical as usual. He&#x27;s about to be pinned with the title of world&#x27;s richest person (assuming the stock market isn&#x27;t about to deflate of course), and all the negative press that goes with it. Such as the optics of world&#x27;s richest person vs pay &amp; work conditions of Amazon&#x27;s poorest workers, the headlines will never end unless he starts pouring a billion per year into philanthropy.

Fusion.

Too many people think about themselves, and not about the bigger picture. There&#x27;s a lot of people saying &quot;Give me $5000&quot; Or &quot;Why don&#x27;t you teach me to be rich?!&quot;<p>I truly hope he chooses something to change the world for the better.

He could do worse than just giving all his money to Bill Gates. Actually, he already has done much worse, by purchasing a major newspaper that formerly occasionally published articles written in the public interest, only to turn it into the official press organ of the &quot;intelligence&quot; TLAs. Viewed in a certain light, of course, that wasn&#x27;t so much philanthropy as CODB.