“We are very proud of this! We are nobodies, we have no money, nothing!” Tommaso Cacciari, from a group calling itself No Space for Bezos, told the BBC.

“We’re just citizens who started organising and we managed to move one of the most powerful people in the world - all the billionaires - out of the city.”

The wedding kicks off later this week, and has a star-studded guest list of the rich and famous that is rumoured to include Kim Kardashian, Mick Jagger and Leonardo diCaprio, as well as several of the Trumps.

  • KumaSudosa
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    22 hours ago

    Look up “criticism of Amazon” or anything like that and you’ll see he isn’t just a good guy who happened to make a big benevolent corporation. From antitrust practices, to design theft, especially from POC, counterfeit products, special tax deals designed to contribute as little as possible, a significantly negative effect on the environment and more. Add to that Bezos’ personal relationships with business and government leaders that are actively trying to keep people poor, including Trump. It’s not the good-guy corporation you think it is.

    And yes, when you’re worth 220 billion dollars and you do nothing positive with it whatsoever, you’re problematic, bordering on evil. It’s greed. If Bezos gave a flying shit about humanity, imagine what kind of change he could actually do.

    • plyth@feddit.org
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      22 hours ago

      It’s not the good-guy corporation you think it is.

      Of course. As the saying goes, there are no innocent billionaires.

      If Bezos gave a flying shit about humanity, imagine what kind of change he could actually do.

      Yes, that would be nice. But it totally shifts the blame away from regular people. We live in a democracy. This entire debate could have been spent on how to improve the world. If we don’t have the money, why don’t we come up with a plan and ask Bezos for the money if needed? Actually there are so much taxes that society can easily outspend Bezos.

      • KumaSudosa
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        21 hours ago

        So you do recognise that. Then why are you spending so much energy defending Bezos and people like him?

        Sure, regular people should rise up and retake power. Take back resources from the billionaires. Idk who “we” are - but I don’t live in USA, and if I did I wouldn’t be living in a democracy. There are plenty of plans for how to save the planet and they all include stopping billionaires and fundamentally changing the system. Think Bezos will bankroll it if we ask him nicely?

        • plyth@feddit.org
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          21 hours ago

          Because this is backwards. Billionaires fill the void that people don’t fill. The system could be changed right now if people stopped focussing on billionaires and would create their own structures.

          Yes, people are kept stupid. But believing that all it takes is getting rid of billionaires is part of the disinformation.

          • KumaSudosa
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            21 hours ago

            What structures are people supposed to create exactly?

            I never claimed it was the entire problem and that it solve all of humanity’s issues, but the system that they’ve helped create and now benefit from is what’s destroying both the world and humanity. Eating just a few of them wouldn’t change that but it’d be a start. That’s why the fact that a few hundreds of brave Venetians won’t let him do whatever he wants in their home is awesome. Entitled motherfuckers coming in their private planes and yachts acting like they own a city that’s literally sinking and where locals can hardly make a living.

            • plyth@feddit.org
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              20 hours ago

              What structures are people supposed to create exactly?

              That’s to be determined. I don’t know how people want to live.

              What Bezos has done for Amazon, which is ignored as he “doesn’t work”, has to be replaced. People have to be organized. The structure can be anything that works, but it has to be something.

              Same for all the other billionaires that people don’t want to see in power.

              Entitled motherfuckers coming in their private planes and yachts acting like they own a city that’s literally sinking and where locals can hardly make a living.

              Haven’t locals already been replaced by millionaires and moved to Mestre? I don’t want to root for millionaires who feel diminished by billionaires.

              • KumaSudosa
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                20 hours ago

                What is it you think Bezos does and has done “for Amazon” that makes him so important? The main thing he was good at was knowing how to rig the system. If he died tomorrow you’ll see that Amazon will do just as fine, possibly even better. He’s not even the CEO anymore. People can’t just “create structures” when all the world’s resources are owned by regimes and big corporations. If I create my own Amazon-equivalent they’re gonna destroy me before I ever make it big.

                The Old City is being heavily depopulated, yes. Locals can hardly even live their anymore. So why wouldn’t thry be angry?

                • plyth@feddit.org
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                  20 hours ago

                  If I create my own Amazon-equivalent they’re gonna destroy me before I ever make it big

                  Start an AWS in Europe now. You should even get government support.

                  What is it you think Bezos does and has done “for Amazon” that makes him so important? T

                  Have you seen my great man comments? Nothing in particular. But if people want to do without billionaires, they have to do “it” by themselves.

                  Locals can hardly even live their anymore. So why wouldn’t thry be angry?

                  Are they? “Pay more tax” sounds like a demand from American expats. More irony if they are defending Venice from Bezos.

                  • KumaSudosa
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                    20 hours ago

                    There’s plenty of Cloud companies in the works currently; I already applied for a position at Evroc. But it’s not all that Amazon does.

                    Run corporations by ourselves? Gladly! When do the CEOs step down?

                    Definitely Italian names and groups being mentioned in the article. Might be some Americans and others inbetween; it’s a struggle mirrored around the world. Can just be a reference to the fact that Bezos and Amazon are known tax evaders - including for their EU business. And yes, I’d imagine that people aren’t happy about being priced out of their own communities - hence the widespread anti-tourism protests in general