@rbreich whenever I read a quote from mil(bil)lionaires, tech-bros, or or others with the same pretensions to wealth & power, I always replace “freedom” with “me doing whatever I feel like to other people”
It gives the same energy, but is far more accurate of the sentiments implied
Were it not for the extreme danger that huge corporations particularly American ones, pose to mankind's life on earth, I think I would find it highly amusing that an invention of mankind; namely the limited liability company, has taken on a life of its own. These days these monstrous corporations are permitted to act as if they were gods rather that as a contemptible invention of mankind!
For that reason, were I in government, I would introduce legislation that would oblige limited liability companies to put the environment and the welfare of their employees before profitability, by law and the legislation I would favour would impose massive fines on all directors and senior management personally, as well as on the company itself, for any breaches of these regulations.
@rbreich A strategic error, since democracy itself is an evolved mechanism that allows the oligarchy to maintain control (yes, democracies are thinly disguised oligarchies because the oligarchs vet all the candidates) while generating little counter-control ("pushback"). But...if your totalitarianism is brutal enough, and technologically-advanced enough (facial recognition, AI drones - real 1984, "minority report" stuff), you can dispense with the paper tiger called "democracy."
@rbreich Let me fix that for you: The goal of the American oligarchy is to destroy democracy and freedom itself.
They hate freedom. They want total supremacy.
@rbreich
regulation mitigates this crap. theil is a loosed but not invincible bezos and musky too for that matter they should not be allow to own the news spigot
@rbreich The freedom Thiel speaks about isn't encoded in the US constitution but nonetheless the most important one for him and his ilk: the Freedom to Exploit.
@rbreich Democracy means one person, one vote. An unregulated capitalist market with a weak government means one dollar, one vote. Hmm: which system would a billionaire prefer?