131–140 of 1001 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From my original post: Governments DID see this coming, both federal and state. California, at one time, was prepared for exactly this crisis. The 2008 financial crisis wiped out state budgets
BS. If they were prepared, where did everything go? CA had lower income so they burned all the PPE and shut down hospitals?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't have an issue with the ideas. I agree with many of them. I just find it a bit absurd that one of the top 1000 people capable of putting them into action is telling other people to go do it while he spends his time investing in them. Capital is obviously helpful and crucial for building companies, but he is obviously satisfied waiting for solutions to walk in the door rather than chasing them himself.
Him funding many effective people working on big ideas at once is probably more effective than him doing one idea himself.
His objection is that those ideas are not being worked on.
I expect this essay to be the target of criticism. Here’s a modest proposal to my critics. Instead of attacking my ideas of what to build, conceive your own! What do you think we should build? There’s an excellent chance I’ll agree with you. It's interesting that he manages to say completely uncontroversial things, yet do so in such a way that even he finds them controversial. Is there a word for this phenomenon? Rew…
> Is there a word for this phenomenon? Taunting? If you stand in a room full of people and say "the sky is blue", you'll get a weird look at most. If you say instead "Most of you will think it's controversial and criticise me, but I think the sky is blue - you're free to voice your opinion though", you'll get lots of people commenting (as you did) that this is not controversial and the sky is indeed blue. You can get…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From my original post: Governments DID see this coming, both federal and state. California, at one time, was prepared for exactly this crisis. The 2008 financial crisis wiped out state budgets
BS. If they were prepared, where did everything go? CA had lower income so they burned all the PPE and shut down hospitals?
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-27/coronavi...
FWIW CA's tax system is pro-cyclical, because they do tax the richest 1%'s more, but the result is that 1%'s don't make any capital gains in recession years so state tax revenues get obliterated during recessions.
I'm in the process of reading _Why Nation Fails_. The central thesis is that the rich and poor countries are separated by inclusive vs extractive institutions. The extractive institutions are characterised by elites that attempt to defend their own wealth and status by maintaining the status quo and resisting the creative destruction that may threaten that position. It seems to resonate a bit here, when Marc speaks o…
What incentives do lawmakers have to make laws simpler?
Westworld spoiler I’d have to watch again to be sure, but I think the scene in Westworld in Singapore is actually in Singapore because Paris was destroyed. There are scenes in futuristic sf also that show Fremont street among others.
They are out of business as they are not economically optimal for the market. I see where you're going though.
> The problem is desire. We need to want these things. The problem is inertia. We need to want these things more than we want to prevent these things.
> And the problem is will. We need to build these things.
This is an accusation for lack of motivation. An accusation without any specific substantiation. Hindsight is not a fair substantiation for such accusation.
Motivation is the preference for getting into the most favourable thinkable outcome from the available starting conditions. The current situation was beyond most people's thinkable outcomes, so most of us were caught off guard.
> Part of the problem is clearly foresight, a failure of imagination.
Agree on this. Perhaps I'd say it's a failure of being informed on this possibility. But that's it.
> Why shouldn’t regulators and taxpayers demand that Harvard build?
Welcome to the USSR.
If Harvard isn't incentivised, demanding that they build will not make anybody better off.
> Instead of attacking my ideas of what to build, conceive your own! What do you think we should build?
I think Marc Andreessen should manually manufacture surgical masks in his bedroom 8 hours a day 7 days a week and supply Department of Health & Human Services free of charge.
I'm sitting here thinking: where can I go to help run some machines, lathes, 3D printers, CNC, etc? How can I roll up my sleeve and help build what's needed in these times? How can I help move humanity forward through this pandemic and climate change?
In these times I often turn to the wisdom of Buckminster Fuller, who was more prescient about these times 50 years ago than most contemporary leaders:
> Think of it. We are blessed with technology that would be indescribable to our forefathers. We have the wherewithal, the know-it-all to feed everybody, clothe everybody, and give every human on Earth a chance. We know now what we could never have known before - that we now have the option for all humanity to make it successfully on this planet in this lifetime. Whether it is to be Utopia or Oblivion will be a touch-and-go relay race right up to the final moment.
In so much of what is discussed, here, on HackerNews, and elsewhere, people express their solutions. What does it take for us to build and mobilize to bring those solutions to fruition? Why are we spending so much time spinning our wheels, our time and attention elsewhere, distracting ourselves, and putting our heads in the sand when problems need to be solved? Are the barriers political, educational, financial, etc? What systemic changes can be made if the current system is not working?
> I expect this essay to be the target of criticism. Here’s a modest proposal to my critics. Instead of attacking my ideas of what to build, conceive your own! What do you think we should build? There’s an excellent chance I’ll agree with you. What we need to build is the capacity to make investments in building backstops against low-prob, high-risk, collective risks. For almost all of those risks, the problem isn't…
Sure, govts. should tax the FAANGs of the world more, but having a "stake" in them means govt. interests suddenly align with corporate interests, meaning regulation for the public good gets sidelined. Net neutrality anyone?