Amazon built its brand on "low prices." But instead of offering affordable deals, Amazon forced brands to raise their prices elsewhere. Typical Bezos behavior.

If you needed another reason to hate Jeff Bezos, Amazon pressured Levi's, Hanes, and other brands to raise their prices at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot – all so Amazon could offer their “best” prices.

Amazon used its dominance of US ecommerce to force brands like Levi's and Hanes to raise prices everywhere – Walmart, Target, Best Buy – to protect Amazon's profit margins. California is now suing them for illegal price fixing; the trial is set for 2027.

The average S&P 500 CEO got a 7% raise last year. To $18.9 million. The federal minimum wage hasn't moved since 2009. This is a policy choice disguised as an economy.

The Starbucks CEO made $97 million last year. The median Starbucks barista made $14,674. That's a 6,666-to-1 pay ratio. The barista would have to start working in 4,643 BC to earn what the CEO made in a single year.

In 1965, CEOs made 21x the average worker. Today, it's 285x. Meanwhile, the federal minimum wage hasn’t moved since 2009.

Corporations have been shoving AI down our throats as a magical tool that will cut our workload in half. Meanwhile, a recent UC Berkeley study showed that AI isn’t making us work less; it’s making our work longer and more intense.

the last time the federal minimum wage was raised: - obama was just inaugurated - instagram didnt exist - the iphone didn’t have a front facing camera - michael jackson was still alive

A minimum wage full time worker makes less than half of the federal poverty wage. And they’re saying we can’t raise the minimum wage because it will drive prices up?

Hot take: one job should be enough to live on. a $25/h federal minimum wage can make this possible. we've just let corporate lobbyists keep us at $7.25/hr for the past 2 decades.

The weekend. The 8-hour workday. Minimum wage. Child labor laws. None of these rights we take for granted today were given freely. All of them were fought for, by workers, who organized and built political power to resist corporate greed.

70% of Americans approve of unions – the highest since the 1960s. Union membership is 10%. That gap between what people want and what exists is called corporate power. Closing it is called organizing.

In 1898, domestic cooks in Massachusetts worked 80 hours a week for 9 cents an hour. Workers didn't ask politely for something better. They organized, struck, and built a movement. That's how the 5-day work week was won. This can happen again.

The median Starbucks worker would have had to start working in 4643 BC to earn what the Starbucks CEO earned in 2024 alone. Let that sink in.

The tariffs cost your family $1,745. The Supreme Court ruled them illegal. Now the refund is going to corporations, who won’t pass them on to customers. This admin is running so many scams its hard to keep track.

Amazon charges sellers 50-60% in fees, forces them to match those prices everywhere else, then charges them again to appear in search results. This is not a marketplace, it's a monopoly.

CNBC asked the CFOs of 25 major companies whether they plan to share tariff refunds with customers. None of them said yes. We absorbed the price hikes. They keep the rebate.

it's time to break up the monopoly.

Amazon's advertising market – where sellers pay for placement in search results – grew from $38B in 2022 to $68B in 2025. You are literally paying to see ads, then paying higher prices because sellers need to raise their prices to pay for those ads. Amazon profits twice.

In 1977, Ticketmaster's first show had a $6.50 ticket and a $0.25 service fee. Today, fees average 28% – hidden until checkout. A jury just called it an illegal monopoly and fined them $280 million – just 4 days of their revenue. The only real fix is forcing them to sell Ticketmaster.

The first product you see on Amazon isn't the best or cheapest. It's the one that paid the most to be there. Ad costs for sellers are up 48% since 2019. Those costs get baked into prices – and under Amazon's rules, those higher prices follow you everywhere.

Amazon forces sellers into a "Most Favored Nation" rule: they can't charge less anywhere else than on Amazon. So when Amazon raises fees, prices go up everywhere – Target, small business websites, your local store. You're paying an Amazon tax whether you use Amazon or not.

In the 90s, Pearl Jam fought Ticketmaster to keep service fees under 10%. Ticketmaster refused, and Pearl Jam cancelled their tour. Last week, a jury finally agreed with Pearl Jam: Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly.

The Treasury Secretary was asked if Americans would see any of the $166B in tariff refunds. His answer: "I got a feeling the American people won't see it." We paid the higher prices and get nothing in return.

Live Nation employees called fans "so stupid" for paying their junk fees in internal messages. "Robbing them blind baby. That's how we do." Last week, a jury agreed. Their fine? $280 million – 4 days of revenue. Now force them to sell Ticketmaster. Break up this illegal monopoly.

higher productivity isn’t leading to better working conditions – it’s causing employee burnout and paving the way for mass layoffs. we need and deserve an alternative vision for AI, one that’s grounded in democratic decision-making and built to deliver abundance for all working people.

amazon is making everything we buy – on their platform and off – more expensive. here's how:

Everything’s getting more expensive except our paychecks.

we're living in the second gilded age, with most Americans struggling to get by as wealth goes straight to the top. here's what history can teach us in this moment:

Coachella exists because Pearl Jam refused to play venues controlled by Ticketmaster. The first tickets were $50. Water was free. Then a billionaire bought it - and now it’s a shopping mall that charges $649 for entry.

The richest country in the world has no right to force their citizens to choose between feeding their families or paying rent.

Pearl Jam boycotted Ticketmaster's junk fees in 1993. The festival – Coachella – that this boycott inspired now charges a $41 junk fee just to pay in installments. Today, 60% of attendees pay this fee because they can’t afford to pay upfront.

We’re told to “budget better,” but how do you budget for a system designed to keep you broke?

Your Tax Day reminder that Intuit and H&R Block spent $93M lobbying against free tax filing. Now, we pay $290 and 13 hours a year to hand over information the government already has.

No amount of budgeting will make up for the fact that the majority of Americans can’t afford to live in this economy.

West Virginians are paying more for energy bills than their mortgages. This is madness

except my student loan servicer never settles with me 🙃

the US military has run 240 public grocery stores since 1867, where families save up to 30% on their bills. if it works for them, why not for everyone?

Global e-waste is on track to hit 82 million tonnes by 2030. A big reason why? Planned obsolescence: when tech companies deliberately kill perfectly functional products to force you to upgrade.

absolutely wild that an entire generation (us 🙃) is getting locked out of home ownership

Amazon: "Your Kindle is no longer supported." Translation: we've decided the perfectly good product you’ve purchased from us is worthless now. Buy another one (for 20% off because we're very generous!)

Amazon is killing support for older Kindles that still work perfectly - because making you buy a new one is more profitable than letting you keep the one you already own. This is outrageous and wasteful.

How did a famous band’s boycott of Ticketmaster’s price gouging tactics turn into one of the most famous (and expensive) music festivals? The story of Coachella:

your annual tax season reminder that filing your taxes could be way easier and more affordable - if it weren't for corporations spending millions on lobbying to keep the system deliberately confusing. this is why we can't have nice things.

childcare costs more than the average mortgage in most of America. the good news? cities and states are leading by example, showing us a different path forward.

The Pitt is a mirror of what life is like in the US: nice-to-haves are affordable, while the things we actually need to survive are nice-to-haves.

Iran is reportedly charging $2M tolls for oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz - payable in Chinese yuan, not dollars. it's a direct shot at the petrodollar system that's kept the US in financial dominance for 50 years. this unfolding situation is worth watching closely.

Since 2010, Americans have paid $2.1 trillion in credit card interest. People are in debt just trying to afford to live. The banks (and billionaires) are doing great, though 🤡

The $12 billion that the US spent fighting Iran for 2 weeks could have funded healthcare for 1.3 MILLION Americans. Let that sink in.

having kids became a status symbol once we decided it was okay for parents to pay more for childcare than their mortgage payments. /1