Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba • Hacker News Board

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#51

Post by TheDong » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 4:52 AM UTC

icelancer wrote: post #26

analognoise wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're still donating. Are we seriously chastising people for giving money to causes of their own volition because we feel it isn't enough?

Yes, this is basically where we are at today. Apparently we are to hold every rich person to some esoteric standard because every wealthy person made their money by exploiting others; none of them were positive-sum contributors to society. And when someone donates a lot of money, we just say they are buying PR and have calculated the ROI like the terrible capitalist they are, with zero evidence at all this is the cas…

It's disingenuous to frame the problems people have with the 1% as being due to them not positively contributing to society.

Rather, the entire capitalist system, tax loopholes, and corrupt politicians have lead to increased disparity between the rich and poor.

I'm fine with the claim that some people who create value and are net-positive, such as many of the rich people, absolutely should have significant wealth.

However, they should not have the level of wealth they have now, wealth that is enough to feed every homeless in their cities for centuries, wealth that could house and clothe the needy for decades....

We should not have loopholes like the estate tax reductions which mean even after they die, their family line can greedily clutch onto the money for generations to come, creating a severe class divide.

Just because we are angry with the system does not mean we all think rich people are innately evil.

Also, we have all the evidence we need to condemn the current distribution of wealth: the current distribution of wealth is self-evidently disgustingly bad.

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#52

Post by joejerryronnie » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 4:59 AM UTC

The reason Jack Ma is stepping down from Alibaba is that he was becoming too powerful and influencial in China. Jack is very smart and knows that you can build your wealth and power until you begin to threaten the party, then you either need to step down or you will be forcefully taken down.

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#53

Post by pizza » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:02 AM UTC

dx87 wrote: post #30

romwell wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Claim going perpendicular to experience of every Alibaba employee I met. Probably opposite , not perpendicular then :)

People frequentyly use the term parallell to describe having the same experience, so logicaly a perpendicular experience would be synonymous with an opposite experience :)

at risk of being utterly pedantic, I think you might prefer using 'antiparallel'

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#54

Post by roenxi » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:15 AM UTC

crystalmeph wrote: post #39

rgbrenner wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They'll be ok, even with the trade war. The majority (about 90%) of Alibaba's sales are domestic (Chinese). The rest is exports (not just to the US though): https://www.statista.com/statistics/226793/e-commerce-revenu... And read this if you want to get an idea of where their revenue comes from: https://www.nasdaq.com/article/alibaba-baba-misses-q1-earnin...

>The majority (about 90%) of Alibaba's sales are domestic (Chinese) But how many of those domestic customers get their own paycheck from exports? China is moving towards a more domestic-focused economy, but exports are still a big deal for them.

I'm not current on the statistics but my understanding was that at the moment there is a flow of real goods (and services?) from China to America.

If that assumption is reasonable, it is difficult to describe a situation in China where the customers get worse off due to reduced exports without the leadership going crazy (like shutting down all their factories and everyone sitting at home sulking instead of selling their goods locally at a discount). If they pretend the American dollar is the be-all-and-end-all they will get into trouble, but it is hard to see why they would do that.

I'd speculate the situation would be OK for any shareholders in China, where any on-paper drops would be countered by improved real access to stuff, and probably bad for shareholders in America where on paper drops may as well be real. Of course, real life is so complicated it is who can even guess?

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#55

Post by forapurpose » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:16 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #36

dqpb wrote: post #9

I hope he's able to make a positive impact on education!

Who knows maybe he'll help accelerate the bankruptcy of colleges [1] with backwards business models, ruined by extremely top heavy administration-first hierarchies pushing tuitions higher. And redirect the cheap capital going to end super expensive degrees with no market to more cost effective models that reflect market-demand (which apparently is not factored into the marketing of university courses to youth).

Saying it with snark is not the same as establishing it factually - usually the former is used when the latter is lacking.

Who knows, maybe we can have an intelligent conversation, expand our knowledge and understanding, and not just repeat partisan small-government talking points.

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#56

Post by shoo » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:16 AM UTC

georgeburdell wrote: post #38

xapata wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Orthogonal is from linear algebra or geometry, a generalization of perpendicular. Perpendicular implies only two dimensions. I'd expect George P. to remember that from the dozens of PhDs.

"Synonymous" doesn't have a logically descriptive definition, but it's definitely not the same as saying "identical". OP was flat out trying to use perpendicular to mean something that doesn't make sense based on its typical usage.

i for one have enjoyed this tangent off the main topic of conversation

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#57

Post by syste-ms » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:29 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #36

dqpb wrote: post #9

I hope he's able to make a positive impact on education!

Who knows maybe he'll help accelerate the bankruptcy of colleges [1] with backwards business models, ruined by extremely top heavy administration-first hierarchies pushing tuitions higher. And redirect the cheap capital going to end super expensive degrees with no market to more cost effective models that reflect market-demand (which apparently is not factored into the marketing of university courses to youth).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the grammar in your comment implies that he's pushing for "top heavy admininstration-first hierarchies". It seems absolutely ridiculous for Ma, someone who went through the terrible experience of struggling into University in China, taking four years to pass the absolutely brutal entrance exam.

Also, after he graduated with an English degree, he had absolutely no qualifications to get a professional job and he resigned to being a lecturer until he got into Cheung Kong GSB.

To me, it feels like your comment isn't rooted in any foundation and is a manifestation of personal experiences and insecurities, I'm assuming a result of the American higher ed system and its "super expensive degrees".

However cynical you may be, please don't let your past experiences misguide your hope for future improvement.

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#58

Post by vlunkr » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:41 AM UTC

dmix wrote: post #36

dqpb wrote: post #9

I hope he's able to make a positive impact on education!

Who knows maybe he'll help accelerate the bankruptcy of colleges [1] with backwards business models, ruined by extremely top heavy administration-first hierarchies pushing tuitions higher. And redirect the cheap capital going to end super expensive degrees with no market to more cost effective models that reflect market-demand (which apparently is not factored into the marketing of university courses to youth).

I don’t really disagree with you, but we’re talking about China here, is the situation even similar there?

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#59

Post by xapata » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:45 AM UTC

georgeburdell wrote: post #38

xapata wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Orthogonal is from linear algebra or geometry, a generalization of perpendicular. Perpendicular implies only two dimensions. I'd expect George P. to remember that from the dozens of PhDs.

"Synonymous" doesn't have a logically descriptive definition, but it's definitely not the same as saying "identical". OP was flat out trying to use perpendicular to mean something that doesn't make sense based on its typical usage.

You might be more correct than the other guy, but I'm holding you to a higher standard, Wramblin' Wreck.

Re: Jack Ma to Retire from Alibaba

#60

Post by AlexB138 » Sat, Sep 08, 2018, 5:51 AM UTC

TuGuQuKu wrote: post #50

maxerickson wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Portions of the US are worse off. It's still easily the case that the standard of living has increased for most people.

Living standards, calorie consumption, GDP, literacy and life expectancy skyrocketed higher and faster for more people anywhere in history under the early years of the USSR and PRC but we tend to only talk about those metrics when they're convenient.

Does that math only include people who weren't deliberately starved to death or murdered? Seems difficult to reconcile those claims with history unless you're excluding pretty wide swaths of people.