“The tax law that congressional Republicans and US President Donald Trump enacted last summer has proved to be a massive boon for Amazon, slashing the corporate behemoth’s 2025 tax bill even as its profits surged and it moved ahead with mass layoffs that have cost 30,000 workers their jobs since October.

“Citing a new securities filing, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Amazon’s “current US taxes, an accounting measure of taxes incurred last year, declined to $1.2 billion from $9 billion” while the company’s “pretax US profit increased by 44.5%, to $89.5 billion. On a cash basis, the company paid $2.8 billion in federal income taxes last year after paying more than $7 billion in each of the prior two years.””

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[–] 3 points 9 months ago (5 children)

Why will the handyman keep coming?

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  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago (4 children)

    He'll probably get paid just enough to keep him and his family slightly above the level of poverty that everyone outside the bunker will be reduced to?

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  • [–] 3 points 9 months ago (3 children)

    Paid with what? Who stops him from demanding more, and how are they paid and with what? Billionaire power comes from currency that is spendable on a large open market. The market doesn't exist anymore.

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  • [–] 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

    I explained this in a different comment. They would have servers in their bunkers which allow them to continue to control the systems which extract resources and exploit labor in order to generate more wealth for themselves.

    It doesn't matter if the market ceases to exist. Whoever controls supply lines, controls the resources. And the billionaires can pay just enough people to keep the automated systems working in their favor.

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  • [–] 2 points 9 months ago (1 child)
  • [–] 1 point 9 months ago

    It's all about the supply lines. If they can control them and keep them intact, then they maintain their grip.

    They might not be stocking grocery stores and stuff like that, but a smaller operation that's just enough to feed themselves and the people who serve them is enough to buy some people's loyalty.

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