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Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

economist.com

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Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#141

Post by Houshalter »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #74
aaron-lebo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wrote it, I don't feel like being an ass and I'm feeling overly aggressive today, not to mention I am a guest in someone else's house. ...but my overall point is that the tech elite is composed of a lot of rich white guys with connections, who naturally help each other out. Sam Altman runs YC now and as of last year was apparently seriously considering running for governor of California. That strikes me as grandios…

How does one measure, compare and conclude that California is the most developed economy in the world?

GDP per capita probably. If California was a country, it would be on the top 10 list, only beat by some small oil rich countries.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#142

Post by CalChris »

davidivadavid wrote: post #41
sremani wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current global trade (non-software) relies on security provided by US Navy. Global Trade is not Free Trade! You need a security under-writer for it. I think Libertarians have a "blind-spot" there.

I'm not sure about that, unless you're conflating libertarians with anarcho-capitalists. Minarchist libertarians would actually consider that making free trade possible through military might is in the purview of the state.

You are saying that the minarchist Night Watchman State will have 10 carrier strike groups? I don't think that word means what you think it means.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#143

Post by Blackthorn »

zht wrote: post #77

Please excuse my ignorance with modern political parlance, but I always got the feeling that "globalists" was actually dogwhistle codeword for Jew. Is that the case?

As a Jewish person: yes it is. It really should not be used by any legitimate publication anymore because of the dogwhistle status it has gained.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#144

Post by cadlin »

omegaworks wrote: post #69
yahna wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The stereotypical left-wing position is, "This government program should be left alone, even if it's poorly-run" Think it's more like "Lets spend more money to fix it".

No one on the left wants more military spending. It's worth it to pay attention to voices most critical of the biggest, most broken government program. The rest is quibbling over minutiae.

I assume you're talking about the Federal Insurance program (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security). Because a lot of people on the left want to spend more money on those.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#145

Post by lliamander »

pvg wrote: post #123
lliamander wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, that's never been my understanding. More refers to anyone who desires world government (or the diminishing of local governments) and who finds the desire to preserve one's culture, community, and national identity as backwards and unenlightened. I suppose it could be used by some as a dogwhistle, but it seems there's also a meaningful set of ideas that can be represented by that term.

Refers to anyone who desires world government (or the diminishing of local governments) and who finds the desire to preserve one's culture, community, and national identity as backwards and unenlightened. That's not what 'globalist' means outside of the fringes. It's certainly not the way the linked article uses it.

Well, I'll have to re-read the linked article. In any case, while I probably did not phrase it in the language that globalists themselves would use, but would they flat out refute my definition? Or would they merely nuance it?

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#146

Post by a-kojeve »

ericd wrote: post #136
scythe wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe tech companies know that they profit from redistribution, perhaps moreso than other companies? Tech products tend to be relatively expensive, but production is generally unlimited, because a significant proportion of the price reflects the fixed costs of development, which means that a larger market usually comes with profits. This is somewhat unlike e.g. agriculture or construction, where production quantities…

The primary reason I support it, and I don't think I'm alone among founders in this, is that I think that society is not going to work very well in the long term unless we strengthen our social safety nets. I want to live in a society that functions well, because I'm happier when surrounded by happier people. I also think that it would enable more people to take the risk of trying something new if they knew that fail…

There's an important distinction, however, between redistribution that seeks to create a more free and just society and retribution that seeks to prevent a society without consumers.

Most tech people in favor of redistributive schemes like UBI are in favor of the later.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#147

Post by CalChris »

StevePerkins wrote: post #128
mehwoot wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obama was a community organiser in 1985, 22 years before the presidental election. He had already made political speeches in college previous to that (where he majored in political science). After that he was a civil rights attorney, and his first elected position was to the Illinois senate in 1996, 8 years before he was elected to the United States Senate. That is 100% traditional career politician in almost every w…

From state legislator to launching an (ultimately successful!) Presidential campaign in a year-and-a-half? We'll have to agree to disagree. Either way, if anything in U.S. politics is non-controversial... it should be the observation that three Presidential cycles in a row have been won by upstarts, whose credentials are strikingly out of place alongside their peers of the past century. That's not arguing equivalence…

George W Bush was not an upstart by any definition of the word. To be sure, he had no particular claim to talent but then his father had been President and his grandfather had been Senator.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#148

Post by devmunchies »

dbroockman wrote: post #76

Author of the study they wrote about here. I think the NYT write up is better: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/06/technology/silicon-valley... . Study here: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers... .

I downloaded the study just to see if my company (Qualtrics) was used for the survey and sure enough it was. :)

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#149

Post by SuoDuanDao »

dbroockman wrote: post #73
lumberjack wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I quickly read your paper. The only way in which technology entrepreneurs deviate from what you would expect, is in their support for more redistribution. But all these people are not paying normal taxes, anyway. Why would they care? Also if you consider the risk of political or economic instability, then even redistribution might just be a self-interested policy stance.

The same logic holds for founders in other industries but they don't seem to like taxes/redistribution much (although we need and are getting more data on that). Would have been nice to ask about taxation on capital gains, but survey space was limited (you folks are busy!) and that is a relatively small share of federal receipts so not as important substantively, even if it speaks to this theoretical question.

There might also be a best-use-of-capital explanation for that discrepancy. A manufacturer with a cash surplus can typically open another factory, but how does a company like twitter usefully spend excess revenue? Tech CEOs may be more in favour of redistribution because they would have to figure out what to invest in, whereas CEOs in other industries already know what they'd like to do with the money.

Re: Tech bosses are globalists, not libertarians

#150

Post by CalChris »

whyenot wrote: post #108
sheepmullet wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What they miss is that running as a republican is very different than running as a democrat Yeah the republican primaries are more fair and balanced - we all saw what happened to Bernie in the democratic primaries.

> we all saw what happened to Bernie in the democratic primaries I don't know what you saw, but I saw Clinton winning 55% of the vote.

I voted for Bernie in the CA primary. Hillary won the Democratic primary pretty handily. Actually, I was surprised by how well Bernie did. In November, I voted for Hillary.
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