Does Jeff Bezos have a sense of irony? Democracy Dies in Darkness proudly proclaims the Washington Post masthead as he takes a machete to the staff, culling hundreds of journalists, axing half its foreign bureau (including the war reporter in Ukraine). It has been described as “the biggest one-day wipeout of journalists in a generation”.
Since Bezos with his $260 billion wealth would not notice the cost of keeping the WP afloat even in these straitened times, fingers are being pointed at his “sickening” efforts to curry favour with Donald Trump because of “external economic interests” such as Amazon and his space technology company Blue Origin. Bezos earned Trump’s rancour in his first term due to the Post’s output leading to the loss of an Amazon $10bn government computing contract. In 2024 Bezos pulled the Post’s planned endorsement of Kamala Harris which led to almost 250,000 subscribers deserting the paper.
The Washington Post, 6 December 1877, with a Sagittarius Sun, Mercury and maybe Moon, has a potential for widescale communication, an interest in the global world, how society works and culture. Mercury square Mars and trine Uranus will give added punch to its views; Uranus square Pluto an inclination to upset the status quo and push forward with reforms.
Tr Uranus at the moment is heading to square the final degree WP Uranus with this week’s solar eclipse in opposition to the WP Uranus as well, for another turbulent staging post in the WP’s long history. Tr Pluto will square the Neptune from late this March onwards through 2027 as well for confusion and more losses.
Bezos was never a good fit with the WP with his Saturn Venus conjunct the Aquarius North Node and his Neptune square hinting at uncertainty and distrust; with his Pluto (Uranus) in a road-blocked opposition to the WP Saturn.
His relationship chart with the WP is being severely rattled unsurprisingly at the moment with tr Uranus square the composite Mars and moving to square the composite Saturn and Uranus through this year with the Aquarius eclipse also conjunct the composite Mars ; at the same time as tr Neptune Saturn is square the composite Sun Mercury. He’ll either sell or run it into the ground completely.
Bezos’ relationship with Trump is moving into a new unsettled phase at the moment with tr Uranus square their composite Pluto with the Aquarius solar eclipse in opposition to the Pluto as well – a test of alpha’s power battle? Where it runs into real trouble is by 2027 with tr Neptune conjunct the composite Sun and opposition Mercury and tr Pluto square the composite Saturn.
One bleakly fun suggestion is that the ex-wives of Bezos and Bill Gates team up to support journalism.
The rich and powerful have always had a malign influence throughout millenia but is it just me that thinks in recent decades the rise of the money men has had a significantly damaging effect on culture and society in the west. The old newspaper barons were black hearted souls many of them but they had a smidgeon of respect for the purpose of the papers they owned. Ditto Hollywood. The old moguls actually liked films. Publishing. Even vets for heaven’s sake. The hedge funds move in and it turns into a rip-off industry. Mind you the US health industry is no better.
As to your point about the damaging impact of rise of money men, here on the U.S. “private equity” companies have taken over housing and even veterinary clinics for pets, with escalating costs and often no other options.
(Private equity firms rapidly consolidating the veterinary industry, with major players like JAB Holding Company (National Veterinary Associates), Mars Veterinary Health (VCA, Banfield), and Shore Capital Partners (Southern Veterinary Partners) controlling a significant share of clinics.)
A sick world when everything must be maximized for profits with no concern for other values. And yes, agree, our healthcare system is tragic.
Prices went up even higher in January not only because Republicans refused to continue expansion of ACA (aka, “Obamacare”) subsidies, but also because Trump’s “OBBB” allowed insurance companies to charge more for less again, in ways that had been previously prohibited under the ACA. Basically these companies were allowed to rip off “consumers” (patients) before the ACA and now again have some license to do so.
The ACA was progress but it still wasn’t right. Everyone should have affordable access to healthcare in a democratic, wealthy society. I know there are always funding issues with public healthcare, but given the alternative of putting money men in charge of deciding who gets treatment for cancer, it looks like the best arrangement.
It’s all money here to levels that make the 80s “greed is good” look quaint.
Most people aren’t even aware of these things because of the takeover by billionaires of our media. I appreciate how you put that into context, as it’s always been an issue but recently has escalated to alarming levels of being misleading on certain subjects.
I wonder what Pluto in Aquarius might do with these tech oligarchs. Wary of hope they will be exposed but can’t help it anyway.
Thanks Marjorie, but what infinitely depressing news this is. You wrote:
“The rich and powerful have always had a malign influence throughout millenia but is it just me that thinks in recent decades the rise of the money men has had a significantly damaging effect on culture and society in the world”
No, really not just you thinks this! Anyway, you prompted me to look at the origins of Silicon Valley, and also for the first hedge fund. The computing era’s history has a significant date in the founding of Fairchild Semiconductor, 1st October, 1957, San Jose California. It has Jupiter 11 Libra sextile Saturn 9 Sagittarius and Uranus 10 Leo. Those all connect with Bezos’ natal Jupiter in Aries (a warrior sign, like an Amazon?). The inventive, showy Uranus opposes Chiron in future-orientated Aquarius, and they square Fairchild’s Scorpio/Taurus Nodes – well, money and a struggle between the Leo individual heart and Aquarian intellectual collective perhaps? The “tech bros” wield great power in our world today. Many hold eccentric or even extreme views.
The first hedge fund was founded in 1949 by AW Jones, a financial journalist and sociologist. It appears to date from October that year. Neptune was in Libra, sextile Pluto in Leo, with Uranus just into Cancer then. Nodes are in Aries/Libra, with Chiron in gambling Sagittarius.
I think these dates may be significant, since they are part of the post WW II era and consensus. We’re now seeing institutions founded at that time – such as NATO, the UN, and the EU – challenged by circumstances and individuals. Not to mention the airy, fiery energies of transiting Uranus, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn.
We can the same thing about the UK, most are right wing and are owned by billionaires who don’t care about facts while making sure their pockets are filled.