[emptysongglass]

I suspect there must be a secret majority of capitalist-apologists lurking on Hacker News because every time I open a thread, the top comment is defending one of these corporations.

I grew up and lived in Seattle. I left because of Amazon. My rent spiked, Capital Hill's cultural landscape that raised me was bought out and appropriated for the new influx of tech workers who couldn't care or know the musical miracle of what they had plundered.

I live and breathe computing systems and I want less of me wherever I go. Our effect when we enter local ecologies is stultifying, ruining, yet is celebrated as progress by some nebulous measure none of us can touch or taste or feel except for the wealthy.

With Amazon's entrance came foreign Chinese investment to buy out family run businesses like Mama's Mexican Kitchen. My aunt worked at Mama's for more than a decade. She was a fixture: articles were written up on her special brand of caustic wit she brought to every table. The Chinese investors bought out the whole block to convert Mama's and other neighboring cultural waystations into soulless high rises for the likes of me.

[throwaway98121]

Those Chinese investors didn’t do anything illegal did they? Sounds like your beef should be with your own city or towns council or state government for allowing this to happen. The Chinese investors saw an opportunity and took advantage.

What blows my mind are all the folks who point at corporations and capitalism in general as being inherently “bad” and are quick to point out the effects of transplants from other countries or cities moving to their area for economic opportunity. Then these same folks also are in favor of liberal immigration policies.

The NIMBY mentality is hypocritical.

You left Seattle but others moved in to take your place. I don’t see a negative here other than you’re upset that others are successful. You feel like you are entitled to live in Seattle, and I disagree. You moved out but Rahul who came from Hyderabad has a much better quality of life in Seattle. It sucks for you, but is it inherently bad for society?

[scarface74]

The whole idea of “capitalism is bad” while the same person enjoys the fruit of capitalism is hypocritical.

It’s about like HN posters supporting “tax the rich” and aren’t self aware enough to know that if they have over $130K year of household income, they are doing better than 80% of the population and they are the statistical “rich”.

https://dqydj.com/united-states-household-income-brackets-pe...

[Qwertystop]

I don't know about HN-in-general, but I support taxing the rich while being quite aware that I'm in the top half (though not the top 80%) and might thus potentially pay higher taxes as a result.

People can be willing to contribute to the public good; whether or not taxes are the most efficient way to do this, they're more effective than ending up in decision-paralysis over where to donate.