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Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

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31–40 of 92 posts

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have been living in a dystopian sci-fi novel since 1945.

Yes but I think the velocity of Dystopianism since 2001 might be much greater than anything experienced before then.

The massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons that began is kind of on league of it's own. The western electorate has been taken on a ride since national suffrage became a thing (before that they had very little power thus no rides were necessary - ditto for non-democratic states)

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#32
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then don't vote for Zuckerberg? Technically, if he were to be a representative or other elected government official, he would be obligated to uphold the interests of his constituents, not the company he owns, just like any other representative. Granted, it might be a concern that he would use his position to help his company, which is why officials usually have to put their assets in a blind trust. He would still hav…

That's much easier said than done. At the end of the day, Facebook almost reaches 2 billion people. Good luck beating that and a net worth of $50 billion.

Not only does it reach them, but it knows more about them than any political campaign ever dreamed of.

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent announcements and actions by Zuck suggest that he's going to run for office one day. 1) Reveals he is no longer an atheist ( http://nypost.com/2017/01/02/mark-zuckerberg-reveals-hes-no-... ) 2) 2017 New Years goal to meet people in every 50 state ( http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-personal-goal... ) etc.

It suggests he may be Buddhist. You can't really use a religion other than Christianity if you're pandering to Americans.

I see this as baby steps... he knows that being an atheist is a non-starter, politically. Better something than nothing. Watch him get more religious and move towards Judaism/Christianity as we get closer to 2020 :)

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent announcements and actions by Zuck suggest that he's going to run for office one day. 1) Reveals he is no longer an atheist ( http://nypost.com/2017/01/02/mark-zuckerberg-reveals-hes-no-... ) 2) 2017 New Years goal to meet people in every 50 state ( http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-personal-goal... ) etc.

It suggests he may be Buddhist. You can't really use a religion other than Christianity if you're pandering to Americans.

I, for one, would not put limits on the ability of politicians to pander in ways that I would find implausible.

But in the case of religion (even Buddhism), I find it plausible. Demographics and expectations about religion are changing. Religious belief and alignment does appear to be softening. See: http://www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-...

More broadly, I think the models of cognitive dissonance and tribal behavior are sometimes more important than arbitrary labels. If enough voters feel comfortable with a candidate (on their own terms) they can dismiss any number of externally-imposed labels about their candidate.

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#35
post #13

I was going to post asking what experience Mark has in government but then I remembered the American population just voted to elect a reality TV 'star' and rich-from-daddies-money mediocre businessman as President. So yeah I guess Mark is highly qualified in that he has several times Trump's net worth.

We elected a community organizer before Trump. At least Trump has been someone with responsibility before being elected President.

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#36

I must have missed something; why are people discussing Zuck serving in government?

I suspect a lot of rich people have eschewed politics out of several concerns, including whether certain aspects of their personal history, business history, or business holdings nullify their chances of being elected.

It's pretty clear that the Trump election has changed the calculus quite a bit in this regard. I expect to see more celebrity candidates going forward, at least in the near term.

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#37
As someone who shares a lot more political opinions with Zuckerberg than Trump, having the man who controls Facebook holding political office has just as much potential for corruption as Trump does, and is almost as scary.

Politicians have a lot of levers to shape media coverage without owning one of the largest sources of information in the modern world.

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#38
post #2

Why does this sound like the plot to a dystopian sci fi novel? Facebook's interests aren't anything close to my interests.

The problem with dystopian sci-fi novels is that their plots are usually dependent on social dynamics that don't capture the full range of human behavior. For example, you don't read many sci-fi novels that have a character like John D. Rockafeller (who used his wealth and power to stand up to Prohibition).

It's worth keeping in mind that some of America's founding fathers were also among the wealthiest people in the country (e.g. John Hancock).

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#39
post #16
post #2

Why does this sound like the plot to a dystopian sci fi novel? Facebook's interests aren't anything close to my interests.

Then don't vote for Zuckerberg? Technically, if he were to be a representative or other elected government official, he would be obligated to uphold the interests of his constituents, not the company he owns, just like any other representative. Granted, it might be a concern that he would use his position to help his company, which is why officials usually have to put their assets in a blind trust. He would still hav…

[deleted]

Re: Zuckerberg could run Facebook while serving in government forever

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recent announcements and actions by Zuck suggest that he's going to run for office one day. 1) Reveals he is no longer an atheist ( http://nypost.com/2017/01/02/mark-zuckerberg-reveals-hes-no-... ) 2) 2017 New Years goal to meet people in every 50 state ( http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-zuckerberg-personal-goal... ) etc.

“No. I was raised Jewish and then I went through a period where I questioned things, but now I believe religion is very important,” he wrote.

Zuckerberg wouldn't be the first atheist to become more religious after getting married and having a child.
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