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Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

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Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#101

Post by Zigurd »

rorykoehler wrote: post #36
factorialboy wrote: post #4

Extremely stupid tweet by Andreessen. He probably doesn't even realize that, like most ignorant people. FYI it was socialism that held back the Indian economy during the 70s and 80s. And it was colonialism that drained the country's wealth for over two hundred years. Here, Mr. Andreessen, educate yourself: https://www.google.com/search?q=bengal+famine

To be fair, it was stupid, however it was also a tongue in cheek tweet that was not an endorsement of colonialism and more poking fun at the sluggish Indian economy once they freed themselves of colonial rule. He was essentially making the point you made.

The 1970's called. They want their stereotype of the Indian economy back: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/12146579/India-...

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#102

Post by JoeAltmaier »

rayiner wrote: post #92
factorialboy wrote: post #4

Extremely stupid tweet by Andreessen. He probably doesn't even realize that, like most ignorant people. FYI it was socialism that held back the Indian economy during the 70s and 80s. And it was colonialism that drained the country's wealth for over two hundred years. Here, Mr. Andreessen, educate yourself: https://www.google.com/search?q=bengal+famine

One thing I never see mentioned in this debate is the fact that America was a British colony as well, and colonial status definitely drained American wealth for centuries (though obviously, the occupation of India was far more brutal). But I think it's highly unlikely that America ever would've become a superpower without the benefit of British culture, institutions, and law.

How about German culture, institutions and law? How about Bohemian? Austrian? Italian? Czech? Polish?

America was last a British colony, but it was far from a uniform culture of expat British. And it reinvented itself violently upon rebellion. Into something quite new in the world. Or at least not seen in a long time. And definitely not British.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#103

Post by mc32 »

factorialboy wrote: post #80
picardo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He probably meant "Anti-West" attitudes, not anti-colonialism. Coming from a third world country myself, I know there is a tendency to deny and dismiss some socially disruptive innovations because of their origin. There is a cultural trust issue there.

Net neutrality is not anti-West.

You have to take politics into account. In this case due to historical factors and reactionary attitudes it very well can be a reaction to "the west"

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#104

Post by azzafazza »

w1ntermute wrote: post #90
azzafazza wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You summed up exactly what I thought it in my head about his Tweets, he is positively juvenile.

Evans has been called out for his idiotic behavior before[0]. From what I can tell, his only contribution to a discussion is to say the most banal things (ex: there will be 5B smartphone users in 2020) in a way that makes them sounds original. 0: http://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/benedict-evans-wants-to...

I hadn't seen this, thanks for sharing.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#105

Post by GFK_of_xmaspast »

rayiner wrote: post #92
factorialboy wrote: post #4

Extremely stupid tweet by Andreessen. He probably doesn't even realize that, like most ignorant people. FYI it was socialism that held back the Indian economy during the 70s and 80s. And it was colonialism that drained the country's wealth for over two hundred years. Here, Mr. Andreessen, educate yourself: https://www.google.com/search?q=bengal+famine

One thing I never see mentioned in this debate is the fact that America was a British colony as well, and colonial status definitely drained American wealth for centuries (though obviously, the occupation of India was far more brutal). But I think it's highly unlikely that America ever would've become a superpower without the benefit of British culture, institutions, and law.

The obvious difference is that the US is run by the colonizers instead of the colonized (and look at the status of Native Americans today).

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#106

Post by [deleted] »

rayiner wrote: post #92
factorialboy wrote: post #4

Extremely stupid tweet by Andreessen. He probably doesn't even realize that, like most ignorant people. FYI it was socialism that held back the Indian economy during the 70s and 80s. And it was colonialism that drained the country's wealth for over two hundred years. Here, Mr. Andreessen, educate yourself: https://www.google.com/search?q=bengal+famine

One thing I never see mentioned in this debate is the fact that America was a British colony as well, and colonial status definitely drained American wealth for centuries (though obviously, the occupation of India was far more brutal). But I think it's highly unlikely that America ever would've become a superpower without the benefit of British culture, institutions, and law.

[deleted]

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#107

Post by cookiecaper »

factorialboy wrote: post #4

Extremely stupid tweet by Andreessen. He probably doesn't even realize that, like most ignorant people. FYI it was socialism that held back the Indian economy during the 70s and 80s. And it was colonialism that drained the country's wealth for over two hundred years. Here, Mr. Andreessen, educate yourself: https://www.google.com/search?q=bengal+famine

Let's drop the pretense. A differing political interpretation is not necessarily a sign of ignorance, and pretending like it is only contributes to the atmosphere of toxic obstinance that has devoured our political process in recent years.

Instead of implying that Marc Andreessen is uneducated or ignorant, explain your disagreement civilly, without name-calling or mud-slinging. If the issue is too sensitive for you to do that, it's probably best to refrain from replying until you've cooled down enough to remain civil and present a legitimate counter-argument.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#108

Post by cousin_it »

numair wrote: post #56

First, a disclosure: I hate Facebook, I think Free Basics is evil, and I think Marc Andreesen says a lot of stupid shit. That being said, this whole uproar is just more proof that social media is totally, utterly broken. Let me explain. While I think Marc is on the board of an evil company and that his thought process on this matter is incredibly ignorant, I really appreciate the fact that he shares his point of view…

Yeah, I agree. Most social media makes it easier to attack than to argue, so it benefits groups that attack rather than argue. A big part of the problem is the retweeting/reblogging functionality, which seems designed to encourage aggressive mass stupidity. There's already a problem on Tumblr where people selectively quote others' private posts as public and add some political sneer. I guess the best solution is to treat internet pile-ons the same way as trolling: ban it, flag it, block it, scorn it, or walk away if all else fails.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#109

Post by dharmach »

Brakenshire wrote: post #99
nileshtrivedi wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You should find out what India's share of world GDP and trade was when the british arrived.

That's prior to the industrial revolution compared to after the industrial revolution. It's the same story with India, Russia and China - during that period the global economy shifted from being overwhelmingly defined by agriculture and other products of manual labour (and therefore being heavily dependent on population) to being defined by industrial production. Britain treated India as an extractive economy, were i…

The opinion is that the West fueled industrialization with the looted wealth from colonies.

Re: Marc Andreessen Pro-Colonialism Tweet Riles India Tech World

#110

Post by fwn »

tetrep wrote: post #82
fwn wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because everyone with a different opinion on the most beneficial infrastructural policy is driven by pure self-interest. ..basically the pop culture version of a regulatory debate.

> ...the most beneficial infrastructural policy... That's a nice objective view of free basics. I honestly believe, as I believe the parent to your comment does, that free basics really is bad for the internet and that none of the big players supporting it, e.g. the board of Facebook, are ignorant of the massive walled garden effect that they expect and hope it will create. At this point I think it's pretty close to…

I did not want to say that the consequences of Facebooks Free Basics can't be seen as something bad. ..and I personally wouldn't argue for their proposed implementation either.

It just bugs me that the whole debate always needs to be drown to the lowest common denominator of political understanding. There is little positioning left if everthing is always pressed in shallow us versus them identities.

Both sides have better and worse arguments for their position.

Ultimately, in my opinion, the issue comes down to solid antitrust mechanisms. To use your picture: If it is a transit system which sparks the idea of mobility in a previously immobile and unconnected society: I wouldn't stop it as long as there is room for other suppliers that might compete with exit-door featured stations.

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