A century-old steel bridge in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam will be partially dismantled this summer to allow a superyacht being built for Jeff Bezos to sail through. — The Observer
The controversial project will make way for Bezos’ new $485 million Oceanco-designed sailing yacht, which is about half the length of the Titanic. Bezos has agreed to pay for the bridge’s removal. The 144-year-old structure narrowly survived heavy allied bombing of the city during War II and a later attempt by the city to demolish it that was eventually stopped by local citizens. The bridge was restored in 2007.
Rotterdam’s mayor’s office has said it welcomes the economic benefits of the project, although some residents have other plans.
“From an economic perspective and maintaining employment, the municipality considers this a very important project,” Rotterdam municipal project leader Marcel Walravens told AFP. “In addition, Rotterdam has also been declared the maritime capital of Europe. Shipbuilding and activity within that sector are therefore an important pillar of the municipality.”
36 Comments
no pain no gain bezcarraldo. And.
Our tech overlords should have special privileges that the rest of us don't have. Bezos is "green" and that's cool.
Why did your article neglect to include the part that says the bridge will also be rebuilt in its current form?
Sounds like the genius who builts a boat in their basement.
Fuck Bezos. All this kowtowing to billionaires has got to stop.
Eh, I'm fine with Bezos paying a ton of money to hire a bunch of people to take apart a bridge and then put it back together just so his dumb boat can go by. Huge infusion of cash to the local workers.
One of the few good things the uber-rich do is blow their money on silly vanity projects that incidentally prop up construction trades. Obviously I'd prefer if their taxes were higher, but for now this is way better than blowing $50m on some Damien Hirst garbage or going to space.
The uber-rich are uber-rich at the expense of everyone else. A little trickle-down is a bribe to keep them from being strung up.
That $485 million went to local workers and local suppliers as well as world-wide vendors and their workers. Ask Bezos to make a contribution to the local children's hospital as well as paying for the obsolete, unused bridge (that is still a landmark for many) to be reassembled and everybody wins.
Trickle-down. The UN says that world hunger could be ended for $30b. I don't see and centi-billionaires stepping up ...
I don't see Biden doing anything except putting modest income people into the food lines either.
The oversimplified political argument completely aside, why is a yacht half the length of the Titanic even worth our attention—much less dismantling a bridge—on any other front, cultural, historical, technological, etc? A man with tremendous resources has built a big boat. So what? Symbolically it is worth 0 and Bezos has contributed nothing to the world.
More than 1,000 Dutch residents plan to throw rotten eggs at Jeff Bezos' superyacht if it ends up forcing a historic bridge be dismantled for it to pass through...
Now, that's a protest done right.
Bezos has them covered:
https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Brand-Happy-Belly-Large/dp/B07WMM5NJ1/ref=sr_1_2_0o_fs?crid=3W24IHU45BNMM&keywords=eggs&qid=1644182168&sprefix=eggs%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-2
as well as himself:
https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Marine-RV-Boat-Wash/dp/B0000AXVCB/ref=sr_1_11?crid=3JXTHSEST5L6I&keywords=boat+cleaner&qid=1644182250&sprefix=boat+cleaner%2Caps%2C224&sr=8-11
the guy is unbeatable!
The obvious thought would be to tow the ship under the bridge sans masts and step the masts later.
I am no fan of Bezos and I think the whole concept of uber rich people being catered to 24/7 by subservient crew repulsive. Also, the lines of this ship are not very attractive. That said, the thing will cost about $40 million a year to operate, much of it spent in areas of the world that need the money. It also kept the yard busy and helped to keep it in business and able to build more useful boats.
And lastly it is a sailboat which should appeal to the environmentalists. Bezos is a Greenie.
As far as carbon footprint goes Bezos is in competition for the top spot if he doesn't already own it outright. Example: his personal joyride space "program". Another: the materials and waste for the construction of his super yachts (yes, there are two, and there will likely be a shadow fleet of private service ships that follow them around). Another: the $150m house he just bought.
As much as we dislike Bezos, the problem lies with the shipbuilder Oceanco.
I mean, if I own a bakery inside a historic building and I was paid to make the largest wedding cake for a billionaire. Do I ask the government to take down the front door? No, I should assemble the cake outside. Or refuse the job in the beginning.
Oceanco should have refused the job. I really don't think Bezos did this deliberately. This is caused by the greed of Oceanco and the Dutch town.
This kind of clickbait is unfair to the uber-rich. It distracts from the real issues they are causing in our society.
I don't see how this is unfair. He wants to send rocketships into space. He can't think proactively enough to imagine that a yacht of that size might have a problem getting out to sea. It makes me wonder if his rockets were designed with redundant systems.
*are*
The uber rich ARE the problem in society.
"This kind of clickbait is unfair to the uber-rich."
Words fail me.
**** LONG POST WARNING NOTICE ****
Miles Jaffe, you are a descendent and benefactor of the uber rich including your father and the clients he served.
Seriously, all the bitching and moaning because someone has money because they invested in a company that makes money instead of choosing a career in some dead-end occupation like every business occupation that provides personal services which all "professional services" really are. You limit your wealth to the limits of a small number of clients versus the economy driven by consumer wealth which by and large is magnitudes of an order potential.
What I hear from you and others is simple bitching and jealousy, that they are rich and you're not equally rich. Boo Hoo. Compete with a better business and product and compete against Amazon or shut the fuck up and be nothing but a serf riding the coat tails of the established rich. Find a growing niche market to a foothold that has growth potential. Right now, you can't directly compete with Amazon because producing something that is just equal in quality only gets you so far.
Since the antitrust case against Microsoft, there is no effective antitrust laws in the United States. It's a waste of time and the laws might as well be repealed because it is not really enforced anymore in the U.S. The DOJ isn't going to waste their time on such. If it actually was enforced, Amazon would have been broken already. Amazon has diversified from being a book store and that has expanded their wealth immensely. They are a e-commerce platform and more.
You aren't going to change a damn thing about Bezos whining about his wealth. He started with not much difference in wealth as most average individuals.... in the financially ok but not super uber rich family and built his way towards becoming one of the richest individuals on the planet. This is because you took the risk of putting together a business in the IT industry. Guess what, the world is a technology driven world economy, now. Any Generation X and late Boomer generation should have made their career in the IT / computer and related fields. Every Millenial and later generation pretty much should not pursue old dinosaur careers (except law and medical) and be in the technology driven field. If you are non-technology based, you're obsolete. If you don't innovate and be an entrepreneur, you are GOING to be stuck in the "employee" pay rate zone. Only entrepreneurs (business owners) makes the big bucks. They always do unless they suck. It's the nature of being a FOR-PROFIT business. The fact that you chose to be an architect means that you are in a profession that tends to operate like a non-profit. This is because most said small firms are not on the stock market and also they rarely make payments as dividends and frankly don't know how to. Amazon's wealth and thus Jeff Bezos wealth has grown significantly after its IPO. This wealth boost is because of selling shares which became a big capitalization effort and the trading of shares has been a key part of leveraging the company's resources and growth. Unless you step into the stock market business, you're wealth is going to be more limited but very few architectural firms are on the stock markets.
There are reasons why investors and venture capitalists don't tend to invest in architectural firms. This limits your access to capital. Additionally, architects don't tend to work that lends to any sort of crowdfunding because architects aren't producing products. Yes, producing a product is a key element to crowdfunding. People want something for putting money in your hands for something.
If you want wealth that you can afford to have your own yacht or things like that, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG CAREER in architecture. Architects are not valued that much and its built on the "one-off" designing so it's not commoditized or leveraging the most money potential out of the design. Most architects are design-only. No end product. Therefore, you are like a game designer of software designer that only does the concept but doesn't actually do the rest of the work to make the software design or game design into an actual software or video game product. The business model of software businesses is to develop the product from concept to an actual product that you can make money from it. The concept isn't worth shit. It's the implementation of the concept into a product that makes it worth anything. Architects are not the builders and developers of the projects they design. Once you do also the construction and the development, will you be able to leverage investment capital?
In the software business, I have access to venture capital and investors if I so choose to. I have access to crowdfunding. It is up to me in terms of using or not using resources that exist. Sure, it is not a guarantee I get an investor or even crowdfunding. Although, crowdfunding is easier to attain some funding but how much is a variable. It can also leverage the negotiation grounds regarding VCs/capital investors for Series A funding and other funding.
Again, you chose this career you are in, warts and all. Therefore, you chose by staying in this profession, completing the degrees, the licensing, and all. You chose this with perhaps the exception of Miles Jaffe and some others. Most of the folks on this forum have chosen to be in a career that lacks these and therefore, know what you gave up. This means it's a consensual choice and therefore, bitching and moaning about not having something that would never have as part of this profession is disingenuous. It's just cry babies crying about the benefits and privileges that you could potentially have (not guaranteed... it wasn't for Jeff Bezo... it was a gamble... to be an entrepreneurer). by consensual choice. You made your choice, LIVE WITH IT.
Yes, I think the boat's size is excessive. However, he has the wealth to dismantle the bridge and have it rebuilt. This may be good for the bridge and help it be around longer if done right... replacing old weakened connections and prevent a disaster.... if done right. Most won't e able to do that because such a thing costs millions of dollars. Those with less wealth would likely had to be satisfied with a smaller yacht which wouldn't have needed to deal with the bridge so they wouldn't have had to spend the money. On the other hand, work can be done on this bridge which would have likely never been done by cash strapped government. In the U.S., a lot of bridges are graded as C and below (Ds and Fs) and no funding to make such repairs. If Bezos built the yacht in Portland, Oregon, at least 2 if not more than two bridges might need to be torn down and repairs done and re-built. Work that might not ever get done for another 50 to 100 years or until the bridge is collapsed and new one be forced to be built.... and only when disaster happens does it seem like there is this sudden money is available. Wow.... isn't that interesting.
Sorry if I am not sympathetic to people griping about the uber rich. Sorry, except for a relatively small number of countries, we are a not communist/socialists pushing the equal wealth of everyone regardless of what one does where the laziest person and the hardest working person is paid the same. Sure, I support better taxes and even some ideas of some universal base income but those that want more income has to work for it. There is a line, though. Those not working should at least be able to pay for food and have a place to live. Then working gets more money to be able to support themselves and their family better and raise quality of life and be able to afford a house or a nicer apartment.
So, I can support $25,000 to $30,000 universal base income. Then workers can earn money on top of that. However, apartments pricing regulations to mitigate landlords abusing. Can you imagine earning $15/hr from working (minimum wage) and also get $25,000 to $30,000 base income. If you are an architect, you get paid what you get paid now on top of the universal base income of $25,000 to $30,000. This would come at a cost which means, more stronger taxes of the wealthy as well as others on a more equal basis. The UBI (universal base income) would be tax free but business income all all taxable and there may be adjustments on the standard deductions and itemized deductions and other tax code adjustments. However, I that is beyond the scope of the thread. However, I don't think ranting about uber rich and demeaning them solely on being rich because you are not.... because you chose a career that doesn't have the likelihood of ever earning that kind of income, and other decisions you chode. You didn't choose to make the decisions that gave you the stepping stones that leads you to more opportunities to leverage and ultimately position yourself into entrepreneurship. You made these choices. You're wealth or lack thereof is of your own making. I made decisions that most likely resulted in not becoming a licensed architect. Those are my decisions and its on me.
He made and makes his money by exploiting his employees and weaseling out of paying taxes.
You have no idea about working for a living and supporting a family so please keep your ridiculous absurdities about income inequality to yourself.
Any business is going to make use of the tax code to their benefit just like every tax payer does. No one wants to pay taxes and will use the code to pay less taxes. As for the "exploiting" of employees, well that's the definition of being an employer... to make use of employees and leverage their work to make money.
As for "exploitation", that is one of those boogey man words. You are only entitled "minimum wage" or other statutorily mandated pay rate otherwise, it's up to the contract. Sometimes, there is labor unions and contractual agreements and sometimes there isn't and that is usually outlined in the employement agreement/salary or wage contract terms.
Every person is out to get rich at the expense of their fellow human beings, so I better make sure I do it first, and better!
Congratulations on internalizing all of the apologizing for the rich without internalizing anything intelligent along side, Rich. You know that's the only thing you'll ever have in common with the rich, right? Your nickname?
If your contract stipulates a higher pay then minimum wage, then you have your contract and contract law to support your pay as contractually agreed to.
Equating poverty with laziness is insulting. Your assumption of a level playing field and equal opportunity is clueless. There are a multitude of ways to exploit workers besides pay.
Do you have all the facts or just tabloid cherrypicked set of the facts. I heard a number of complaints but what are they, really. We know the complainers are not telling everything. They never do. Humans are liars. Every damn one of them are. They distort some truths to their narratives. There hasn't been a human that is 90% honest in over 100 years. Why? They are culturally brought up with mixed message. The idealism is truth should always be done but a counter message of lie when it benefits you. Every single human being since the baby boomer generation lies when it is convenient to their needs so all complaints are lies or tainted with lies. Any distortion of the truth is a lie. Every human being is a hypocrite.
such fatalism
At core, it's the genetic disposition of the entire human race species. There are fundamental root issues that can not be overcome as long as humans are humans. They have to become completely different creatures genetically. The element is also tied into the nature of humans having individual minds. While the extent that a person is a liar and hypocrite varies from person to person but every human since the first human on this planet are liars and hypocrites.
You are a liar and hypocrite, sneakypete. You have lied to others and have been contradictory not only to yourself but also to others. No human has ever not lied or been hypocritical.
For profit corporations are not charities. They are not in business to make all the employees rich. The job of a CEO is to make the owners of the corporation rich and make their wealth more and more. That is why they are in business. Most employees at Amazon are transient. The come and go. Some continue to stay and of course with higher pay comes the higher responsibilities of the roles going up the corporate "ladder".
This is because many jobs are disposable. People needed to put boxes on the conveyor belt and load the trucks are simply disposable because there is 7 BILLION people on this planet that qualifies. There is almost always someone that can replace you. They can practically replace humans in those jobs with robotics. The idea is not to make a career out of such jobs. It's meant to be that you work 1-3 years and move on. They are meant for young workers not old timers that already have a bad back and can't lift things more than a 5 pound bag of sugar without having a heart attack. In which case, there are means of accomodating the handicap which they do employ.
Working for Amazon doesn't necessarily mean you work in a comfortable air-conditioned office sitting in a cozy chair looking at a computer screen. It's in the job description for the position. If you can't do the work of a particular job, don't apply to the job and don't accept the job. Find one that you can do.
Amazon does have other jobs. If you want to have the income to support a family, look for jobs that pays $50,000 or more in salary. This usually means you need to have more relevent qualifications for a position than having a high school diploma.
Wealth, income and taxes for four of the richest people in the country from 2014 to 2018:
Taken together, [the data] demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. The IRS records show that the wealthiest can — perfectly legally — pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year.
https://www.propublica.org/art...
Income is only a fractional part of the story. They explain what they mean by true tax and defend it.
I'd be curious to see figures on pandemic years. Amazon must have cashed in big time.
I didn't see data on Charlie Munger.
Just wait until someone points out that those numbers are ENORMOUS and HOW DARE YOU suggest they pay more?!
I'd love my tax rate to be 3.27%.
Socialism for the rich. They have the very best government that money can buy.
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