Thursday, June 16, 2016

About Bezos

He's worth almost $60 billion now and Amazon will insure he's worth more in the future. He formed Blue Origin two years before SpaceX and has strong opinions about earth's future. He owns the Washington Post and isn't shy about expressing his opinions. Is he good or evil?

He's human, which means he will be unintentionally both. Unlike most of us, he has the power to greatly influence the future in ways that could both help and harm. Amazon has a dominant position in its market in America and he's working to make it so worldwide. As with any dominant company it has the potential of harming healthy competition. Amazon is a great service. Hopefully, others will find a way to compete.

Business people often don't like competition even though it benefits everyone including the business that doesn't like it. Without competition things tend to stagnate. Prices stay too high and products make less improvement. There is a definite downside to market domination.

Having a larger voice in people lives is dangerous. Good intentions can lead to harm. Especially when someone thinks they know better than others what the 'rules' aught to be. Bezos thinks he does because he's expressed himself that way. It's not just that he has his opinions. He wants the earth to be a garden unspoiled by nasty industry which he wants to eventually move out to space... not by a natural evolution but by enacting laws that force others to be part of his vision.

He's not just a good businessman offering people options. He hasn't shown himself to be a bad person, but we shouldn't ignore the potential dangers either. He is and will undeniably be an influential person. He may not want to be king but isn't opposed to being the king maker. These types are sometimes more insidious. He's worth watching with some caution.

3 comments:

Jim Davis said...

A minor grammar nitpick, Ken.

dominate -> verb
dominant -> adjective

ken_anthony said...

Right you are Jim. Thanks, I'll fix it (that's what happens when the fingers go on automatic and the brains asleep. As I get older I notice this happening much too often.)

ken_anthony said...

brain's... duh!