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It’s Time to Build

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Re: It’s Time to Build

#571

Post by IG_Semmelweiss »

jahaja wrote: post #423
tekdude wrote: post #388

Regulatory capture is indeed a major underlying cause of a lot of the issues, but who will actually do the political work to fight against it? Someone spent money to capture the regulations in the first place, through lobbying and campaign donations. Who will spend the money to lobby and donate for the cause of undoing that? The "builders"? No, their focus and limited capital is spent on whatever it is they are worki…

> Regulatory capture is indeed a major underlying cause of a lot of the issues How is it even possible to isolate capitalism from regulatory capture? Capital accumulation inherently creates power and influence, so regulatory capture is surely just the perfectly logical second phase?

its actually very easy.

1) regulatory capture exists is because you give power to individuals to make decisions for the collective. 2) freedom of speech will always mean if I have money, I can spend it any way I want. That will never change. Therefore, it is impossible to limit money in politics.

Once you understand these 2 principles, its very simple to understand the solution. Money will always impact politics. You simply need to raise the price enough so that you won't end up in regulatory capture.

1) Dillute power. Cause representatives to govern a fixed number of people. For example, 1 house member for every 50,000 people. So the house would go from 431 to 6500. That would make it very expensive to hire lobbysts to capture.

2) Limit power. Term limits for aggregate public service so people can't peddle power of public office. This makes lobbying expensive since you can't permanently buy favor.

3) Randomize outcomes. By far the most powerful. Introduce uncertainty into election successs. Randomly switch winners for the house with state at all levels. So for example, a citizen from VA running for president could end up instead as a state senator for VT, or FL (and vice versa). Same thing for vice president, and any other public post. You want to make sure the "bet" on a candidate win is a very long tail in outcomes so that lobbyists don't really know what power they are actually buying by contributing to the candidate's campaign. Given that we had people like Bush, Obama and Trump in highest office, with varied levels of public office "experience", I think it is a given that there is no real qualification for running for X, other than being a US citizen of a certain age, and actually winning.

That's how you fix the current corporatism running amok in america.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#572

Post by darawk »

KirinDave wrote: post #415
darawk wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Markets build in response to incentives. Most American production choices are determined by markets, including the choices of investors allocating capital. This leaves out the most important problem though: regulatory capture and bureaucratic gridlock. Markets would love to build more housing. But they're prevented from doing so by the regulatory state. Markets would love to build nuclear power plants, but they're…

> Markets would love to build more housing... But they're prevented from doing so by the regulatory state Interesting claim. Do you want to detail this more? Most of my experience is not with the State itself being an obstacle, but as a tool in the hands of landlords and capitalists to help enforce scarcity.

> Interesting claim. Do you want to detail this more? Most of my experience is not with the State itself being an obstacle, but as a tool in the hands of landlords and capitalists to help enforce scarcity.

I'm not even sure I really understand your question. Rents in San Francisco are extremely high. What that means is that if you build a new apartment building there you can charge a lot of money for your apartments. Therefore, any halfway intelligent capitalist understands it's a great idea to build apartment buildings in San Francisco. The only reason they are not doing this is that the local zoning laws prevent them from doing so.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#573

Post by kingaillas »

nopriorarrests wrote: post #149
covidacct wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's one teeny tiny example. They made a smart investment, to the tune of billions of dollars, in computer science. And not just for the past 30 years, but continuously for the past 100 years. That investment included a modest (6-7 figure, depending on how your count) investment in a project on digital libraries years before private capital caught on. The private investors were rewarded handsomely for their investm…

I still do not understand the logic. Let me put it straight. 1. US Government has unlimited funding, heck, it came up with 2 trillions _during last month alone_ with some financial alchemy which I don't fully understand. But clearly it's not starving. 2. US Government has kinda poor record producing tangible results during last 30 years, in terms of advancing science, housing, whatever. I mean, can CDC quickly figure…

>So, based on these 3 observable points, we should "Tax the living hell out of capital"?

Sure, because the government is supposed to provide infrastructure, which in turn allows all kinds of other stuff to flourish on top.

All those examples that private capital gave - who built the internet and spent enough money to create the early market for computers?

>I still not getting it.

If the government is supposed to supply education, health, and infrastructure, then it needs to be paid for somehow. Corporations don't care since there is no immediate monetization possible (plus tragedy of the commons aspects) and the free market simply assumes this stuff appears out of the thin air (externalize the cost somewhere else).

Re: It’s Time to Build

#574

Post by neilparikh »

notacoward wrote: post #417

It seems a bit too easy to challenge the left to show that the public sector can do amazing things ... when the public sector doesn't have the freedom of action we've given to the private sector, and the left isn't even in control of it right now. "Come on, let's fight, you with your hands tied, and see who's better." Cheap shot, Marc. Point the second: of course a VC wants people to build. Of course a VC wants creat…

The left is in control in both California and New York, and many of the problems there are in the realm of state/city governments rather than federal government.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#575

Post by atoav »

pmarca wrote: post #480
dodobirdlord wrote: post #457

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, law is not code and it’s very important that it’s not code. Law is subject to interpretation, and that’s great. When bugs are discovered in law, they can be retroactively corrected.

Are bugs discovered and corrected faster today in law or in code?

Yes

Re: It’s Time to Build

#576

Post by gorgoiler »

The introduction was chilling.

How do the preparations for the next big San Andreas earthquake compare to those that were (or should have been) made for Covid-19? What else do we need to build for something like that?

The impact of the two seem quite similar: at best, stuck at home on a dwindling pile of food that can be replenished sporadically every two weeks while you try to make a living online. Covid-19 didn’t take out physical infrastructure, but decimating the workforce has had a similar effect, and knock on effects are real (how do I service a broken car during lockdown?)

The two big takeaways from Covid-19 for me were: have better food security at home, and invest in a home grade wireless internet connection. I’d probably think carefully about exposure to natural disasters too, the next time I move.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#577

Post by seibelj »

david927 wrote: post #540
fxtentacle wrote: post #141

The article chalks it up to a lack of desire, but that seems completely wrong to me. The sad truth is that building yet another addictive and attention-grabbing way to push ads into people's faces pays the bills. Doing the right thing does not, or at least not in America. As a German, it took me a while to figure out how business in the US works, but basically everyone only treats things listed next to a monetary amo…

You're right, America has long given up the notion of what is "for the good of society" in favor of making money. Walking around SF (until recently) meant literally seeing both millionaires and people defecating in the street. It's extreme. Marc wants to know how to use capitalism and growth (building) to overcome this, when the best outcome might be just realizing how broken capitalism in America is.

There exist a culture of people who are happy sleeping outside and living on the streets. Even if all the homeless who don’t want to live on the street have a bed, there will be street people. It’s a lifestyle preference where the weather is nice, like beach bums.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#578

Post by 8bitsrule »

"I expect this essay to be the target of criticism."

For starters, this might not be the right time to blame the victims.

"Our nation and our civilization were built on production, on building."

And yet, the people who physically build things are left destitute, while the managers are raking it in.

This ought to be a time of reflection, not action.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#579

Post by refurb »

oxymoron wrote: post #70

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…

I have no doubt that money drives burdensome regulations, but most regulations are put into place because someone screwed up and hurt people.

Yeah, there are a ton of regulations If you want to bring a new drug to market. That makes it super expensive to do.

But in exchange we get pharmaceuticals that work, are reasonable safe, and are based solid data.

Re: It’s Time to Build

#580

Post by farrarstan »

zelly wrote: post #487

This was one of the best posts I've ever read. Thinking about printing it out and framing it. It's more inspirational than anything I've read, and it articulates the elephant-in-the-room problem we all know but aren't talking about. No one is innovating anymore. Everyone copies each other. Even in the YC crowd, every other thing is a dumb CRUD app or AI snake oil project that has been rehashed since the 80s. Where's…

Lmao you guys are just
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