Amazon is the monster that is eating everything, including American democracy
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Jeff Bezos is celebrated as the innovative “self-made” billionaire who transformed retail by building Amazon from the ground up. However, the reality behind his rise is not the rags-to-riches narrative he promotes.
Bezos’s immense fortune was not the result of sheer ingenuity and hard work, but rather the product of substantial financial backing, aggressive acquisitions, tax avoidance schemes, and the exploitation of Amazon’s workers.
Bezos’s ‘Self-Made’ Myth
Amazon is unquestionably a dynamic global commercial force and that could not have been achieved without significant intelligence and financial acumen, but this is not quite the Horatio Alger story many have taken it to be.
Bezos didn’t start from scratch. His parents loaned him $100,000 to launch Amazon, and another $145,000 a year later. Before his parents financed his venture, Bezos worked at D. E. Shaw & Co. from 1990 to 1994, a firm known for its controversial and sometimes illegal practices within the finance industry.
In 1995, Bezos eventually secured $8 million in venture capital through industry connections, specifically Tom Alberg at Kleiner Perkins, a Silicon Valley firm. So, though not in Donald Trump’s $400 million-from-daddy league, Bezos’s rise was heavily bolstered by significant financial backing and influential connections, giving him the resources to rapidly scale Amazon into the retail giant it is today.
Aggressive Expansion via Acquisitions and Undercutting Sellers
Amazon didn’t just compete — it wielded its vast financial power to acquire over 100 competitors, obliterating any threats to its monopoly. Instead of prioritizing innovation or customer service, Amazon’s acquisitions were designed to crush competition and tighten its stranglehold on entire industries.
This predatory strategy has driven countless small businesses and local shops to collapse, decimating traditional retail and wreaking havoc on local economies.
Equally exploitative is Amazon’s treatment of third-party sellers. The company constantly shifts policies, suspends or delists sellers, and even uses their data to copy competing products. Rather than fostering a fair marketplace, Amazon profits off small businesses while tightening its monopolistic grip.
Worker Exploitation and Fatalities
While Bezos pockets billions, Amazon workers endure grueling, unsafe conditions. In Amazon warehouses, injury rates are more than double the industry average — 6.8 serious injuries per 100 workers in 2021, compared to just 3.3 in non-Amazon warehouses. Temperatures inside warehouses can soar to a staggering 145 F, and many employees report being too underpaid to afford basic transportation after grueling shifts.
Amazon has already faced fines for invasive surveillance practices, yet the company continues to enforce brutal quotas, neglect workers’ mental health, and disregard their safety. Above all, profit always takes precedence over the well-being of its employees.
Amazon employee policies actually have deadly consequences. In 2021, six workers died in a tornado, trapped in a warehouse because of the company’s no cell phone policy. In the summer of 2024, four workers died in a month, including a forklift accident, cardiac arrest, and a fatal fall.
Union Busting and Intimidation
Bezos has fought fiercely against unionization efforts — using surveillance, intimidation, and threats to prevent workers from organizing. In warehouses where unions have been established, Amazon refuses to negotiate contracts, undermining labor rights and keeping workers’ wages and conditions stagnant.
Tax Shelter Schemes and Wealth Hoarding
Amazon has a history of using its financial power to coerce tax breaks from local governments, often in exchange for promises of job creation. However, these jobs typically come with low wages, poor benefits, and exploitative working conditions, undermining prosperity for the local community. These tax incentives further contribute to the company’s ability to avoid its fair share of taxes at the expense of public services.
Bezos’s wealth has come at a cost to the public. Leaked IRS documents reveal Bezos made $4.22 billion in 2020 but paid less than 1 percent in taxes. Amazon likewise avoids paying its fair share of taxes, shifting the burden to the working class.
The Monopoly Reality
The “self-made” narrative of Jeff Bezos is a carefully constructed myth designed to mask the true nature of his rise. His success was less a function of innovation and simple hard work, than of substantial financial backing, aggressive acquisitions, and a strategy centered on eliminating competition.
To begin with, purchasing innovation should not be confused with being innovative. Here are a few of the areas in which Bezos let others do the innovating for him and snarfed up their successes:
When Amazon first started, its promise to small businesses was visibility, but this was a Faustian bargain, and part of Bezos’s calculated strategy to eliminate all competition. Once integrated into Amazon’s system, these businesses are trapped in a cycle of dependency and exploitation — high fees (15-40 percent), direct competition from Amazon’s copied versions of their products, and tight control over branding.
Amazon’s dominance has crushed small businesses and local shops, unable to compete with its deep pockets and monopolistic tactics further enabled by complicit legislators.
Lots of entrepreneurs work hard to be innovative, but few hit upon the kind of predatory formulas that made Amazon the monopolistic monster it is.
Bezos has built his billions by devouring rivals, exploiting third-party sellers, workers, and tax loopholes, all while evading responsibility for the seismic harm his empire has caused. His fortune, like his ego, continues to grow with impunity — fueled by a relentless pursuit of political favor, even as he undermines journalistic integrity with his “democracy dies in darkness” media side hustle.
Meanwhile, it’s local workers, communities, and small businesses who are bankrolling the unchecked Bezos monopoly, while he alone gets to pass “Go” and collect $200 billion.
