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There are reasons to hate Jeff Bezos and the super-rich, but him buying a big boat from a Dutch company isn't really one of them. Would you rather he bought th

There are reasons to hate Jeff Bezos and the super-rich, but him buying a big boat from a Dutch company isn't really one of them. Would you rather he bought the boat from a company in another country? Remember, buying luxury yacths is not the same as taking precious resources out of a country, and he doesn't decide the salaries of the ship builders.

j4yav 5y ago
The link posted here on HN doesn’t seem to work, but the anger is about dismantling a national monument bridge that was promised to never be dismantled again (unless, apparently you are quite rich and then you can get the promise broken), not that a Dutch company built it or that it took natural resources out of the Netherlands. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/a-bridge-too-far-local-anger-at-dismantling-of-historic-bridge-for-bezos-boat/ https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/a-bridge-too-far-local...
- rocketChair 5y ago
  What I'm getting at is that Jeff Bezos didn't plan for the bridge to be dismantled, he was probably not even aware of it, and him buying a big boat is besides Amazon's exploitation of workers, tax-avoidance and sucking money out of countries.
- rosndo 5y ago
  Do you think the average Rotterdam resident cares nearly as much as the press and online forums would like you to think? Also, I find it rather suspicious that none of these articles are actually discussing the technical implementation and potential issues facing that. What real risk does opening the bridge present?
  - j4yav 5y ago
    I live here, people are upset and talking about it. The article I linked to also covers what you’re asking about, going over the perspective of the citizens concerned with breaking the promise as well as the perspective of the mayor and companies who believe they can do it safely.
    - rosndo 5y ago
      This really seems like the kind of a subject that would benefit hugely from good quality opinion polling. We all live in bubbles, there are always things that seem huge on social media that nobody walking down the street cares about.
      - j4yav 5y ago
        Agreed, it will also be debated by our elected representatives next week. In the end Dutch people tend to be pragmatic and I suspect it will be dismantled again, but we will see. At the same time, there is a strong sense of societal fairness and that being rich shouldn’t be able to buy you exceptions. In the meantime it is a real discussion that is happening, not anti-billionaire propaganda that no actual citizens care about.
        ldiracdelta 5y ago
        Again? So this has happened before without a hitch? How too about the societal fairness of employeeing thousands of shipbuilders. Jobs matter too.
        j4yav 5y ago
        That’s right, jobs matter too and that’s the discussion that’s happening (otherwise they would presumably just keep the promise to not take it back apart). For what it’s worth, it didn’t go off the previous time without a hitch, it ended up being covered with scaffolding for over a year I believe. That was where the promise to never do it again originally came from.
  - the_biot 5y ago
    Exactly, this is a pretty obvious publicity play. My guess, informed by nothing other than my own cynicism, is that the Rotterdam city council will use the manufactured outrage to extract more money from Bezos to dismantle that bridge.
    - pureliquidhw 5y ago
      All this is does is hurt the local shipyard. Do you think the next buyer of a super yacht is going to build there? Or even smaller yachts now that there's a political limit on the size of ship they can sell. Also throwing eggs at the boat just makes work for some poor souls who will have to clean it. The boat is designed to withstand the ocean, it can get wet and be washed. This whole thing is so silly, I'm compelled yet embarrassed to comment.
28304283409234 5y ago
Are those the only options then? Buy in netherlands or elsewhere? How about not wasting obscene amountd of limited earth resources on just one man?

j4yav 5y ago

The link posted here on HN doesn’t seem to work, but the anger is about dismantling a national monument bridge that was promised to never be dismantled again (unless, apparently you are quite rich and then you can get the promise broken), not that a Dutch company built it or that it took natural resources out of the Netherlands. https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/a-bridge-too-far-local-anger-at-dismantling-of-historic-bridge-for-bezos-boat/ https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/02/a-bridge-too-far-local...

rocketChair 5y ago
What I'm getting at is that Jeff Bezos didn't plan for the bridge to be dismantled, he was probably not even aware of it, and him buying a big boat is besides Amazon's exploitation of workers, tax-avoidance and sucking money out of countries.
rosndo 5y ago
Do you think the average Rotterdam resident cares nearly as much as the press and online forums would like you to think? Also, I find it rather suspicious that none of these articles are actually discussing the technical implementation and potential issues facing that. What real risk does opening the bridge present?
- j4yav 5y ago
  I live here, people are upset and talking about it. The article I linked to also covers what you’re asking about, going over the perspective of the citizens concerned with breaking the promise as well as the perspective of the mayor and companies who believe they can do it safely.
  - rosndo 5y ago
    This really seems like the kind of a subject that would benefit hugely from good quality opinion polling. We all live in bubbles, there are always things that seem huge on social media that nobody walking down the street cares about.
    - j4yav 5y ago
      Agreed, it will also be debated by our elected representatives next week. In the end Dutch people tend to be pragmatic and I suspect it will be dismantled again, but we will see. At the same time, there is a strong sense of societal fairness and that being rich shouldn’t be able to buy you exceptions. In the meantime it is a real discussion that is happening, not anti-billionaire propaganda that no actual citizens care about.
      - ldiracdelta 5y ago
        Again? So this has happened before without a hitch? How too about the societal fairness of employeeing thousands of shipbuilders. Jobs matter too.
        j4yav 5y ago
        That’s right, jobs matter too and that’s the discussion that’s happening (otherwise they would presumably just keep the promise to not take it back apart). For what it’s worth, it didn’t go off the previous time without a hitch, it ended up being covered with scaffolding for over a year I believe. That was where the promise to never do it again originally came from.
- the_biot 5y ago
  Exactly, this is a pretty obvious publicity play. My guess, informed by nothing other than my own cynicism, is that the Rotterdam city council will use the manufactured outrage to extract more money from Bezos to dismantle that bridge.
  - pureliquidhw 5y ago
    All this is does is hurt the local shipyard. Do you think the next buyer of a super yacht is going to build there? Or even smaller yachts now that there's a political limit on the size of ship they can sell. Also throwing eggs at the boat just makes work for some poor souls who will have to clean it. The boat is designed to withstand the ocean, it can get wet and be washed. This whole thing is so silly, I'm compelled yet embarrassed to comment.

28304283409234 5y ago

Are those the only options then? Buy in netherlands or elsewhere? How about not wasting obscene amountd of limited earth resources on just one man?