- Aug 6, 2012
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Now I'm not debating the donation, it's Bezos money and he can do as he pleases with it. I just happen to find Van Jones has shown flashes of objectivity and looking for common ground with those he may not agree with. This is an admirable and important quality. Even when Trump was in office. At least on twitter, he was often fair in the assessment of his policies.
The concern should be if such awards are given to CEOs of media companies, donations to media outlets, reporters etc and it's designed to influence MSM outside of the backroom activities they already engage in. Media will act quite differently towards their benefactors than an objective person would who doesn't have a pot of gold waiting for them.
Bezos owns Washington Post and I recall one of his employees, apparently a business expert, was speaking on CNN and mocked Trumps chances of winning a trade war with China. In my opinion she was quite inaccurate on both her assessment of history and in the potential chance of success of America.
Furthermore, I find it insulting to the greater good of Western Values for some self serving weaklings to cower at the sign of USA standing up to China.
We can expect the same lack of criticism and analysis of the broader inpact that Amazons model has on Americas job market when relying on Made in China, regardless of how virtuous and well intended this $100M donation was. The credibility of such a winfall is besides the point.
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and world's wealthiest man, said Tuesday after flying to the edge of space that he planned to award $100 million each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef José Andrés.
Bezos said that Jones and Andres were free to do "what they want" with the money.
"They can give it all to their own charity," Bezos said at a press conference after his trip to space. "Or they can share the wealth. It is up to them."
The money, Bezos said, was tied to a "surprise" philanthropic initiative he wanted to announce called the Courage and Civility Award.
The award aims to honor those who have "demonstrated courage" and tried to be a unifier in a divisive world, Bezos added.
"We need unifiers and not vilifiers," Bezos said. "We need people who argue hard and act hard for what they believe. But they do that always with civility and never ad hominem attacks. Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. But we do have role models."
Jones, accepting the award, said that "sometimes dreams come true."
The concern should be if such awards are given to CEOs of media companies, donations to media outlets, reporters etc and it's designed to influence MSM outside of the backroom activities they already engage in. Media will act quite differently towards their benefactors than an objective person would who doesn't have a pot of gold waiting for them.
Bezos owns Washington Post and I recall one of his employees, apparently a business expert, was speaking on CNN and mocked Trumps chances of winning a trade war with China. In my opinion she was quite inaccurate on both her assessment of history and in the potential chance of success of America.
Furthermore, I find it insulting to the greater good of Western Values for some self serving weaklings to cower at the sign of USA standing up to China.
We can expect the same lack of criticism and analysis of the broader inpact that Amazons model has on Americas job market when relying on Made in China, regardless of how virtuous and well intended this $100M donation was. The credibility of such a winfall is besides the point.
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder and world's wealthiest man, said Tuesday after flying to the edge of space that he planned to award $100 million each to CNN contributor Van Jones and chef José Andrés.
Bezos said that Jones and Andres were free to do "what they want" with the money.
"They can give it all to their own charity," Bezos said at a press conference after his trip to space. "Or they can share the wealth. It is up to them."
The money, Bezos said, was tied to a "surprise" philanthropic initiative he wanted to announce called the Courage and Civility Award.
The award aims to honor those who have "demonstrated courage" and tried to be a unifier in a divisive world, Bezos added.
"We need unifiers and not vilifiers," Bezos said. "We need people who argue hard and act hard for what they believe. But they do that always with civility and never ad hominem attacks. Unfortunately, we live in a world where this is too often not the case. But we do have role models."
Jones, accepting the award, said that "sometimes dreams come true."
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