Jeff Bezos, who may now be the richest man in the world, has pledged to spend $2 billion to aid the homeless and to establish preschools for low-income children.
“Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced Thursday that he will give $2 billion to help homeless families and create a new network of nonprofit preschools in low-income communities.
“The pledge, announced in a tweet, fulfills the promise he made last year when he tweeted that he planned to give money to charities that help people facing the most desperate, immediate need. Bezos asked for feedback from nonprofit leaders working on the front lines to help the planet’s neediest people….
“The $2 billion gift establishes the Bezos Day One Fund, which will support two missions. The Day One Families Fund will steer money to existing charities that help the homeless. The Day One Academies Fund will create the preschools.
“When he first asked for suggestions on how to jump-start his philanthropy, Bezos got an earful. The feedback was swift and high-volume with nonprofits bombarding Bezos with requests. He responded to at least one request for a gift early this year with a $33 million donation to TheDream.US, a charity that provides college scholarships to undocumented students, but no other large donations were publicly announced.
“Bezos also entered the political arena. Earlier this month, he and his wife, MacKenzie, gave $10 million to With Honor, a veterans-focused political-action committee.
“Until now, Bezos and his family have given a total of about $160 million to nonprofits over the past decade, according to the Chronicle’s analysis of the gifts he has announced publicly. Critics have complained that wasn’t a lot for a guy whose net worth Forbes recently pegged at nearly $163 billion.“
I know that many of us are skeptical, if not downright hostile, to billionaire gifts, which typically seem to be about telling people what to do, and privatizing the public sector, leaving people dependent on them.
I say, let’s wait and see how the Bezos philanthropy plays out. What will he do to help the homeless? A handout or a fresh start? What kind of preschools will he create? Developmentally appropriate models that allow children to play and learn at their own pace or test-prep centers?
Let’s watch and see.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I disagree about waiting and seeing. This is just plain wrong. Pay a decent wage. Provide reasonable working conditions. Stop looking for every tax break and loop hole. Do what is right from the get-go. ________________________________
Exactly! It’s hard to believe Bezos has any true desire for real philanthropy when his whole business model is built on screwing everyone he can, especially his lowest paid and least powerful employees and suppliers.
“Until now, Bezos and his family have given a total of about $160 million to nonprofits over the past decade.”
In equivalent terms, that’s like most of us and our families giving a total of a few hundred dollars over a decade. Sorry, not impressed.
As far as helping the homeless, research shows clearly that the best way to do that is to house them. Is that what Bezos is planning to do?
You are right, dpayne34.
Additionally, there’s merit to the wait and see approach.
Bezos’ oligarch takeover will be obvious (1) when he schemes for his own for-profit preschools and uses political clout to force taxpayers to fund them. (2) It will be seen in his push for Goldman-Sachs social impact bonds. (3) It will be seen in his takeover of Head Start and his descriptions of them, as vehicles for the preschoolers’ contribution to GDP, (4) when we see preschoolers wearing uniforms and, (5) when the children are put in front of computers (sold by the tech industry to a captive taxpayer audience). (6) The depravity will be apparent when families have no voice in what happens.
The reality of villainthropy will be seen when Bezos follows Arnold’s example, and we see the Philanthropy Roundtable advice from AEI’s Frederick Hess and an external affairs manager of a Gates-funded organization enacted, funding for university faculty who then, receive DeVos’ government money to develop products and marketing plans for the private education sector. (Prior to the REACH grant, many of the recipients received Arnold money.)
(Speaking of uniforms, the Gates and Arnold underlings should wear suits in the color green accompanied by a money bags shirt designed by the Koch son. Impatient Optimists, when they interact with policy makers, should wear the mandated uniforms, especially when they are visiting state capitols in the company of right wing Hoover Institute propagandists.)
When the pattern outlined above applies to Bezos, we can all wish he would take his money to hell with him.
Agreed
Another way for him to help is to pay his employee a decent salary.
Hi Alberto Lopez:
Thank you for a short, sweet and accurate suggestion. This is what we call to start philanthropy within the organization before heading out for society. That is what to be self-respect in order to be able to show the respect for others truthfully. May
How crazy is it that a private citizen has billions of dollars to donate. I am not a fan of communism but our society of free open market crap has created this pool of human beings holding billions of dollars.
The Michael Bloombergs and Gates of the world are far more dangerous than this guy bezos. Look how crazy money is today with Mikey Bloomberg announcing he is running for president. Oh, Bloomberg knows whats best for us because he has acquired billions of dollars?
People, we are living in the sickest of times where a select amount of people have all this money and most of the rest of the population have little – a third world recipe taking place right before our eyes.
The US government has allowed people to acquire incredible amounts of money and this unfortunately is a negative for our society because now we have individuals making societal decisions for people. My question is how do we fix this trend? We really need to start taxing people who have huge sums of monies otherwise our societal fabric will no doubt break down. Tax the bastards 90 percent I say and lets see where that takes us because the curent system is not working and its getting worse.
There is no such thing as a “free” market. By definition, markets are created by the rules governments implement to regulate them. Currently, our government (and most other governments) have created the rules to benefit the wealthy, connected and powerful. The rest of us are virtual slaves to these markets. Nothing “free” about them.
I would amend your no free market postulate. Free markets exist where two people making a deal come to an agreement. When I sold Buck Hatchett a load of ear corn back in 1976, that was the free market. The only thing government or business regulated was the currency we used. Where free markets do not exist is where unequally powerful entities are making a deal. An example of this would be when we used to sell sweet corn to the grocery. I had to take their price or take my chances on the side of the road.
B,B and G,
Income inequality is at the point where historically there have been power upheavals. In a July issue of Medium, a technology futurist wrote about his latest conference with hedge funders. He said they were no longer talking about what to invest in, they were talking about how to save themselves from the instability they created.
There are few people in America today who wouldn’t relish the destruction of the American oligarchs’ palaces. The destruction of the stink tanks whose staff influence media and policy would be a cause for celebration among many- the institutes and foundations are
the co-conspirators in the plots to privatize common goods and destroy Social Security and public pensions.
Town and Country magazine reported that Pew and Arnold (Enron and hedge funds) are involved in community aerial surveillance projects. That tells us how present the danger is. In Baltimore, the elected community leaders had no knowledge that Arnold had funded police neighborhood monitoring.
Six heirs to the Walton fortune have wealth equivalent to 40% of Americans combined. Gates claims to be a philanthropist. He obviously defines it in a way that enables him to remain at the top of the richest list.
Gates and his Microsoft co-founder spent $1/2 million to defeat the reelection of Washington state judges who had rendered verdicts favorable to public schools.
Linda, great post regarding the billionaires and their desires to have the world in their laps. The sad part of this story / issue is that a vast number of americans – whether they are natural citizens or not, seem to be the problem itself really.
If Americans were educated they would not rely on advertising and the such to make their political decisions for them. For example, If Michael Bloomberg or Bill Gates spends millions to endorse a candidate and then advertise the crap for them, why are so many Americans falling for the fake advertising?
I will say that the rulers with the money are taking advantage of the un educated. Trump said he loves the un educated. It really falls into our laps because we vote these crooks into office but we are somehow out numbered by the un educated. The rich folks also know this and so people like Betsy Devos with her grand smirk spell out what she is thinking….You can see it in her body language, her smirk, her walk she truly believes most Americans are stupid and tries to take advantage of that every day.
Most of us who read these blogs and Diane Ravitch posts every day are educated people but we must realize that the majority of the other people living in this country are not.
That billionaire smirk. No protests or insults will ever make it go away.
After the French Revolution, the poor didn’t have to look into the vacant eyes and arrogant postures of the undeserving rich.
November’s elections will either hasten the reckoning or stall it.
People think Trump is a narcissist ?
Just look at Bezos.
The fellow clearly sees himself as John Rambo.
At first I thought Bezos was aiming for a “Pay for Success” grant, but it seems that Bezos and his tax attorney are aiming for a tax avoidance scheme in the name of “philanthropy.”
Miller advised Bezos to set up a ” 501(c)(4), organization. If he went that route, Miller wrote, Bezos would not be able to deduct the gift from his income taxes. But the appreciation in value of any Amazon shares donated to the new organization would be exempt from tax, something that might be more valuable to Bezos. In addition to having a lower tax liability, Bezos would be able to pursue political activities and avoid foundation reporting rules.”
I wonder what political activities he will pursue in the name of “philanthropy.” Will he inflict his agenda on the poor? I agree with the above post that he should use some of his wealth to provide a living wage, better working conditions and health care for his employees.
What Bezos is doing is undercutting Head Start programs. Head Start already serves this population with direct federal funds. Early Head Start & Head Start has a nationwide infrastructure already in place but they’ve been forced to compete for children & money after Duncan & ESSA undercut it with grants that require private funding & pay for success. If Congress or DoEd actually cared about poor children getting universal early education they would have funded HS expansions directly. But, that’s not a profitable model for privateers.
Also, can a 501(c)(4) qualify for a Pay for Success grant, as well? I think the financials spelled out in preK start-up grants allow different types of funding sources. He may be able to use both the 501c4 & Pay Bonuses for Success to finance these preks. I’m not a tax expert but someone else on this site might know.
Bezos says the preschools will be Montessori.
From what I’ve read so far, the preschools are to be Montessori-inspired. I read his tweet directly and I still see language that scares me. I remember the words “consumer obsessed” and something about running these non-profits “with the same principles” as Amazon. All I can say is that growth in very young children does not translate very well to spreadsheets.
“…something about running these non-profits “with the same principles” as Amazon.”
In other words, the preschools will be staffed with underpaid teachers who have to apply for public assistance.
He refused to pay an employee tax in Seattle to help the homeless. Now he can have a tax deduction to do things his way. He is greedy & selfish. I hope WA institutes a high earner income tax soon to help our public schools.
Now you’ve got me speculating that his “help for the homeless” might be really aimed at getting them out of Seattle.
Why wait? A better alternative is fair taxation to provide government the resources needed to serve the interests of all the people. Meeting basic human needs is a societal responsibility and should not be at all dependent on the whims of the 1%. This blog’s support of public schools is applicable to all public services.
I wish he would use his phenomenal wealth and economic power to campaign for universal health care (you know, like the rest of the wealthy democratic countries) and fully funding our public schools. Not to mention for a living wage, $15/hour minimum wage with sick leave, family leave, health benefits (until we can get Medicare for all) and pensions. He should also campaign for a top marginal tax rate of 70% with no loop holes.
If the wealthy and the corporations would pay their fair share in taxes, that’s the best kind of philanthropy. Instead, the states give all kinds of tax breaks, tax abatements, subsidies and sweet heart deals to get Amazon or any other corporation to locate in their state.
Skeptical about billionaires after decades of destructive vulture philanthrocapitalism? Skeptical about Bezos after decades of tax avoidance, worker mistreatment, and monopoly building? Skeptical am I? Call me SkeptiCoastTeacher.
Sanders introduces Stop BEZOS Act to charge companies for welfare programs
BY NIV ELIS – 09/05/18 01:41 PM EDT
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is escalating his feud with Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos, introducing a new bill that would charge big companies for the federal welfare programs that support their low-wage workers.
Sanders introduced the bill on Wednesday that they named the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act, or Stop BEZOS Act.
“At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when the 3 wealthiest people in America own more wealth than the bottom 50 percent and when 52 percent of all new income goes to the top one percent, the American people are tired of subsidizing multi-billionaires who own some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America,” Sanders said in a statement.
Sanders cited a report by the nonprofit New Food Economy suggesting that a third of Amazon employees in Arizona — and thousands in other states — rely on food stamps.
http://thehill.com/policy/technology/405188-sanders-introduces-stop-bezos-act-to-charge-companies-for-welfare-programs
Walmart is another vulture that drains state coffers. They actively tell their employees to apply for medicaid.
We have a lot of excellent early childhood educators in our Network who have years of experience working with homeless children and their families.
Let them flood Mr. Bezos with suggestions for program, buildings, equipment, nutrition, outreach, literacy, sensory play, emotional guidance, arts curriculum and more.
Fill his inbox and P.O. Box with expertise from real teachers who are already there and doing it.
I would like Bezos to get to know the working poor. These billionaires live in a bubble, and many think the poor are “lazy.” Many poor people come from families that have been poor for generations, and many others are poor from illness or some other personal tragedy. However, many others are poor due to chronic under payment of wages from people like Bezos, or loss of employment from employers like Bezos.
AMEN.
As usual, Peter Greene nails it all: http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/09/wtf-bezos.html
dienne77: Very good article. Bezos should pay higher taxes and stop getting all sorts of promises for goodies so that he can locate one more store. He went to school once and is no expert in education. Schools should not be dependent upon the precarious largess of the wealthy.
Since his worth is valued at a Trillion, he must pay ALL his workers a living wage, with health benefits!
This formula has been followed since Carnegie, Morgan, Rockefeller, and in modern times Gates and Buffett. Bernie brings in a ‘Bezos Bill’ that makes him look like a heartless plutocrat and his PR folks come up with this. All about protecting the Amazon Bezos brand.
This is what I have learned about Bezos.
When Amazon bought Goodreads, the site had a history of being plagued by a vicious tribe of bullies and trolls that targeted authors in Trumpish style attacks to destroy the author’s reputations and books.
After Amazon bought Goodreads, Amazon implemented rules to target the Goodreads bullies and trolls and shut them down or muzzle them if possible. The tribes of trolls that were identified were isolated and blocked making it more difficult for them to run rampant. Many of the worst trolls were blacklisted but some returned after setting up new IP addresses and new anonymous names. Those hardcore bullies returned with new tactics in an attempt to work around Amazon’s anti bully rules. That led to one rule that makes it unacceptable to attack an author in a review of a book. Reviews must focus on the book only.
The high mark was when these Goodreads bullies went after Anne Rice on Amazon. Rice reached out to her millions of fans who joined her on Amazon to battle the trolls. Amazon stepped in and stopped the battle and deleted all the comments in that war. That happened about the same time that Amazon was implementing new rules to stop and/or hamper the bullies.
When Bezos bought “The Washington Post”, he didn’t step in and turn the newspaper into a puppet voice supporting whatever he wanted. I read an interview with the paper’s editors who said Bezos doesn’t tell them what to do. They have a conference call about once a month with Bezos and the only suggestions he’s made is to hire more reporters and editors to expand coverage into issues that Bezos felt needed more attention. From what I read, the editors are in charge of what The Washington Post publishes and not Bezos so if you read something in the paper you don’t agree with, blame it on the editors and not Bezos. It sounds like he is a hands-off owner unlike Murdock.
Valerie Strauss is still blogging daily at the Post.
The Post has awful editorials on education. Never got over its love affair with Rhee.
Valerie Strauss’s column is a plus
The editorial page is a minus
You think he’ll treat the kids better than his employees? Why would he?
“We’ll use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon.” [Bezos] added that the schools will aim to serve students as if they were customers.” In other words, the preschoolers will be shown websites (loosely based on Montessori pedagogy) and told by especially low wage preschool teachers to click on things they “like”. A personally identifiable data profile of each child will be created and kept by the company forever for advertising and other profitable purposes. Cradle to grave data.
And don’t forget about the building of product loyalty with strategically placed brand logos and mottos. Also, if he really intends to follow his Amazon business model, milk and graham crackers will be brought from warehouses by cheap robots and low wage employees, or maybe by the USPS to save Bezos even more. Then, he will claim his tax breaks and run away with all the data and all the money.
Some duplication here
Begin Quote Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie on Thursday announced a $2 billion philanthropic effort aimed at helping homeless families and starting preschools in low-income communities. …
“We’re excited to announce the Bezos Day One Fund,” he wrote. The fund will be split between the Day 1 Families Fund, which Bezos wrote will “issue annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.”
The Day 1 Academies Fund “will launch and operate a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities,” Bezos said. Bezos said that the preschools will be directly operated by the organization and “use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon.”
“Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession,” Bezos wrote. “The child will be the customer.” Bezos quoted the poet William Butler Yeats: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
Source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/09/13/1647250/jeff-bezos-announces-2-billion-philanthropic-effort-to-help-homeless-families-and-start-preschools-in-low-income-communities
As others have noted Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently introduced the BEZOS Act, which is meant to force companies including Amazon to pay a tax if their workers use social services such as Medicare, food stamps and housing aid.
My take: Begin Quote Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie on Thursday announced a $2 billion philanthropic effort aimed at helping homeless families and starting preschools in low-income communities. … “We’re excited to announce the Bezos Day One Fund,” he wrote. The fund will be split between the Day 1 Families Fund, which Bezos wrote will “issue annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.”
The Day 1 Academies Fund “will launch and operate a network of high-quality, full-scholarship, Montessori-inspired preschools in underserved communities,” Bezos said. Bezos said that the preschools will be directly operated by the organization and “use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon.”
“Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession,” Bezos wrote. “The child will be the customer.” Bezos quoted the poet William Butler Yeats: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
Source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/09/13/1647250/jeff-bezos-announces-2-billion-philanthropic-effort-to-help-homeless-families-and-start-preschools-in-low-income-communities
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently introduced the BEZOS Act, which is meant to force companies including Amazon to pay a tax if their workers use social services such as Medicare, food stamps and housing aid.
My take: Thinking of children (and their parents) as if they are customers of Amazon is really hard for me to take in any positive way, especially in connection with Montessori. Does Bezos know anything at all about Montessori or is he just throwing the name around like a brand.
I think that filling the pail is about right for preschool—sand, water, some food coloring, or some wheat flour, stir and see what you get. Or dump it outside and slash it around.
note that he cannot be bothered with the issue of poverty but will have time to “issue annual leadership awards to organizations and civic groups doing compassionate, needle-moving work to provide shelter and hunger support to address the immediate needs of young families.”