Jeff Bezos Is Now Worth Over $150 Billion - Page 34 - Politics and Economics

Two Plus Two Forums Other Topics Politics

Jeff Bezos Is Now Worth Over $150 Billion

...

Page 34 of 73

First

14 24 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 44 54

Last

Page 34 of 73

First

14 24 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 44 54

Last

10-19-2018 , 12:20 AM

#826

Praetor1an

journeyman

Join Date: Sep 2017 Posts: 251

Hey guys, a socialist did something useful once. Yeah socialism! Its obviously the bestest system out there. Of course he didn’t exactly do it all by himself. We’re also not sure if he’s actually a socialist. We should also focus on this one person and not look at all the accomplishments from capitalists. Yeah socialism! That’s chessmate bitches!

10-19-2018 , 12:49 AM

#827

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

Finland is mostly socialist and produced Linus, I'm giving them credit for his politics. His giving it away as well as the FOSS movement in general is always going to be a counter argument to people not doing hard things without a profit motive.

Oh, okay. I don't think of Finland as a socialist country, but I get what you mean.

10-19-2018 , 01:00 AM

#828

.Alex.

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 5,672

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

I got that. It's the socialist claim I'm questioning. He's from Finland and now a U.S. citizen, not that the latter is relevant.

Of course it's relevant! Finland is the USSR's neighbor and long-time ally. It would be natural for him to take his talents there. Why did he choose to go halfway across the world instead?

10-19-2018 , 01:01 AM

#829

MrWookie

Don't Call Me Meredith

Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 94,159

Quote:

Originally Posted by Praetor1an

I don't think that you as a capitalist really want to go down the "he didn't do it all himself" path.

10-19-2018 , 01:02 AM

#830

.Alex.

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 5,672

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

Oh, okay. I don't think of Finland as a socialist country, but I get what you mean.

Also this. Kerowo might not be paying attention, but half the people here think Finland is part of the unsustainable liberal western-style democracy that needs to be toppled over and rebuilt from the ruins up.

10-19-2018 , 02:02 AM

#831

6ix

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 4,783

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Alex.

This is the original post that I referenced. Not using a service and then attributing people's appreciation for the company to hero worship of the owner.

You're absolutely right. I'm not being totally serious to call it 'hero worship' so that's not the most appropriate if we're having a serious discussion.

Quote:

It's like the Musk thing where you guys assume some kind of hard-on for the dude when in reality we just love the idea of electric cars and space travel.

...

The Musk thing is a good tangent. There are some posts I want to dig up but let me rain-check that until tomorrow.

10-19-2018 , 09:18 AM

#832

kerowo

lolcat

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37,190

Quote:

Originally Posted by .Alex.

Of course Alex may be trying to deflect from the point that profit motive didn't drive the development of Linux, which means it's possible that people would still be motivated to do things without a pure profit motive. Which was the original point, not whatever tangent he's trying to foist on us here.

10-19-2018 , 11:00 AM

#833

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

Sure. I don't doubt that. But en mass will they be as motivated as a group that has a profit motive in play as well. I think the answer is a resounding "no," based on historical precedent on the one hand and our understanding of human nature on the other.

10-19-2018 , 11:12 AM

#834

kerowo

lolcat

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37,190

What historical precedent do you have that reducing the profit motive reduces entrepreneurship?

10-19-2018 , 11:37 AM

#835

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

What historical precedent do you have that reducing the profit motive reduces entrepreneurship?

Einbert's avatar

10-19-2018 , 11:40 AM

#836

Huehuecoyotl

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 29,257

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

My reason is simply to increase productivity in low-wage sectors. It's that or the beatings will continue....

Right. I get that. I'm saying that you don't need to lower the taxes on capital gains to get that because we're not suffering for lack of potential investment. The bottleneck is on a weak labor market meaning companies don't have to pay their employees more or invest in automation or really improve productivity that much.

10-19-2018 , 12:04 PM

#837

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by Huehuecoyotl

Maybe you're right. Maybe we could even raise the rate. I'm not dug-in on ideological grounds on what the rate should be. My tax range is 0-100% based on what works best. I would say we need to be prepared to lower the rate if a bottleneck shows up.

10-19-2018 , 12:31 PM

#838

kerowo

lolcat

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37,190

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

Einbert's avatar

So we avoid a brutal dictatorship and we're golden then!

10-19-2018 , 12:38 PM

#839

ecriture d'adulte

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 5,913

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrWookie

I don't think that you as a capitalist really want to go down the "he didn't do it all himself" path.

Why not? We’re already calling a dude who owns 10s of millions worth of shares in a for profit software company a socialist.

10-19-2018 , 01:25 PM

#840

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

So we avoid a brutal dictatorship and we're golden then!

Right, because if we prevent people from competing for money, they won't compete all the more for power through other means. We've seen that movie too.

10-19-2018 , 01:52 PM

#841

kerowo

lolcat

Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 37,190

Why are you such an absolutist? We aren't asking to stop people from competing for money, we're asking for them to not be able to compete for ALL the money.

10-19-2018 , 02:29 PM

#842

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerowo

Why are you such an absolutist? We aren't asking to stop people from competing for money, we're asking for them to not be able to compete for ALL the money.

They’re not competing for "ALL the money" because there’s no such thing. Socialists tend to view the economy like a poker game where one person’s gain comes from another’s loss, i.e., a zero-sum game. It’s not. I’m not saying the average American can become a multi-billionaire like Bezos, but they can at least become a millionaire or near enough if they put in the same sort of effort Bezos did.

10-19-2018 , 02:32 PM

#843

microbet

Solar Powered

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 56,487

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

If every single American put in that kind of effort (instead of being lazy roofers and such) how many would become millionaires?

10-19-2018 , 03:05 PM

#844

otatop

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 12,721

Maybe it's just me but becoming a millionaire after getting $300k in starting capital isn't super impressive.

10-19-2018 , 03:10 PM

#845

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by microbet

If every single American put in that kind of effort (instead of being lazy roofers and such) how many would become millionaires?

I meant effort in terms of financial planning and whatnot. To your question: every single American.

10-19-2018 , 03:14 PM

#846

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by otatop

Maybe it's just me but becoming a millionaire after getting $300k in starting capital isn't super impressive.

Well if you had given Bezos $300K in start-up capital, you'd be worth over $30 billion today. If not super, that's at least somewhat impressive. Imagine all the good you could do with that.

10-19-2018 , 03:22 PM

#847

microbet

Solar Powered

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 56,487

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

I meant effort in terms of financial planning and whatnot. To your question: every single American.

The wealth of nations is not a zero sum game, but this isn't even close to true.

10-19-2018 , 03:27 PM

#848

tomdemaine

Just tries harder

Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 20,065

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

I meant effort in terms of financial planning and whatnot. To your question: every single American.

Quote:

Originally Posted by microbet

The wealth of nations is not a zero sum game, but this isn't even close to true.

Those kids born to addicted single mothers who have heroin in their system from birth, who grew up and went to the worst schools with 0 funding no textbooks let alone computers got busted for a single blunt and railroaded into the no escape hell of the for profit prison system should've worked harder and they too could have been millionaires. Lazy bastards.

10-19-2018 , 03:30 PM

#849

microbet

Solar Powered

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 56,487

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomdemaine

Obviously this is true. But, imo, it's also true that if everyone in the world were a Jeff Bezos clone, raised exactly as Jeff Bezos was, not everyone would be a millionaire - not even close.

10-19-2018 , 04:42 PM

#850

John21

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 3,558

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomdemaine

Obviously. But they're what I would consider well below average in terms of circumstances.

Quote:

Originally Posted by John21

I’m not saying the average American can become a multi-billionaire like Bezos, but they can at least become a millionaire or near enough if they put in the same sort of effort Bezos did.

Page 34 of 73

First

14 24 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 44 54

Last

...

Page 34 of 73

First

14 24 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 44 54

Last