by AUSTIN BAILEY
This is the third entry in the series “Diary of a socialist Amazon worker,” a column authored by Austin Bailey, a socialist-minded worker in his twenties, who has followed the World Socialist Web Site since 2016. Bailey writes this column to reach other workers, especially at Amazon, who have burning questions about the realities of working class life. He is always open to listening to the experiences of other workers, Amazon or otherwise, from anywhere in the world. If you wish to have your story shared, Bailey can be contacted at austin.bailey.diary@gmail.com or found on Twitter as @AustinDiary.
After Queen Elizabeth II died, the media responded with a slew of news articles fawning over the late monarch’s supposed grand legacy. On the other hand, the internet was flooded with just condemnations of the brutal colonial empire she presided over, along with open disdain coupled with outright denunciations of the type of hereditary privilege that has sparked many a revolution in the last two-and-a-half centuries.
Wading into this debate was none other than the founder of the company where I work, mega-billionaire Jeff Bezos, who rushed to the queen’s defense. Bezos denounced the Nigerian-born Carnegie Mellon professor Uju Anya over her tweet celebrating the queen’s death and bitterly invoking the bloody history of the British Empire. One of the top comments, addressed to Bezos was, “Imagine how people will react when it’s your turn.”
For the two weeks, it felt like anywhere you turned, the newspapers and TV news programs were celebrating all the trappings of the British monarchy. Biden ordered all of the American flags to be lowered to half-mast. The New York Times suggested that this was because the American population is “consumed with fascination by the royal family.”
I can testify that at the Amazon warehouse where I work, I have not heard a single worker comment on the queen’s death, let alone praise her to the skies the way she is being praised in the media. The overwhelming attitude is one of indifference. Workers simply have taken no notice of the queen’s passing, consumed as they are with the problems of everyday life.
Many Amazon warehouses are still very hot, including mine. Record inflation is making it increasingly difficult for workers to make ends meet. As if to add insult to injury, the high cost of gasoline places many workers in predicaments where they are unable to travel to work. While massive sums of money were allocated for Elizabeth’s funeral, millions across the globe face hunger and destitution amid a pandemic that continues to claim lives.
All of this begs a few questions, I think. First, why does Bezos, who’s rarely heard from on Twitter, solidarize himself with royal privilege? What kind of legacy did Elizabeth really leave behind and, given its character, is she deserving of the pompous praise heaped upon her of late? Should she be mourned or are tears being wasted?
Let us begin with the larger of the two social parasites: Bezos.
World Socialist Web Site for more