Cooper asks, “How did Bezos do it?” A more apt question would be, “How did he get away with it?”
Bezos began by making special deals with book publishers, so he could undercut the prices of independent bookstores. He profited at the expense of the nation—financially and intellectually.
Having successfully attacked one sector of the economy, he metastasized his business into others. As his business grew he crushed innumerable small businesses across the country. Taking advantage of Congress’s pro-business, anti-worker policies, he was able, in effect, to force states and municipalities to pay him subsidies as his workers relied on public assistance.
Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama are trying to form a union. Amazon is fighting back—with all the finesse and sublety one might expect. It has long been known that due to unreasonable “fulfillment demands,” employees of the company have resorted to urinating in bottles. Those who do use restrooms are confronted with anti-union propaganda.
To some degree, Bezos has gotten away with this because The Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, Baltimore Sun and USA Today always have room to let apologists like Cooper praise the wealthy who prey on the rest of us.