I used to have this idealistic view of the relationship between the state and its citizens and it didn't make much sense at the time but it seems to be coming to fruition.
It goes something like this: the state needs a baseline degree of order. The state itself is comprised of a group of elite individuals (national or global, doesn't matter) that require this order in order to live out the most comfortable and indulgent lifestyles that they possibly can.
It's hard to imagine them doing this if there's a relative apocalypse happening outside their windows, and as much as they're obsessed with doomsday prepping themselves (billionaire doomsday preppers are, in fact, a trending thing), I feel that most of them still fear heights enough to launch into orbit and watch the world decay, or still don't have their carbon-filtration systems sorted out in their underground bunkers. True story (belonging to Douglas Rushkoff), the biggest dilemma right now seems to consist of how security will be paid when currency is no longer relevant in a post-apocalyptic world).
To circle back: they need things from spinning out of complete control just like Bezos needs people with disposal incomes to keep the Amazon purchases flowing.
And so we see that the market is able to stay afloat despite the flatlining economy. We see a huddling of Western power (let's all print our way some more time) like none before. We see a media machine that is bewilderingly effective, even today, even when we know that propaganda has just evolved into something so subtle.
Trump proved to be a shimmering example of how it's all a paper-mache parade. While hollow, it actually creates the kind of impacts that it tries to, without really trying to. A fake it til you make it kind of system.
It's sort of like that completely irresponsible family member that is so far in debt that it would make a homeless person cringe with fear. These people will just cycle through revolving debt, often living it up more lavishly than the penny-pinching, book-balancing careful folk.
Did we just prove that we can effectively build economies that need not be grounded in any actual value? Or is complacency and stability a value in itself? Maybe we don't need goldbars in a vault anymore.. Or maybe we're about to find out what happens when the vaults are empty and withdrawals are demanded.
Unprecedented territory that we will learn much from in the next few decades but, if I had to bet, I'd follow the money and assume that Bezos will need Amazon to thrive one way or another.
