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The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

cnet.com

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Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#11

Post by apsec112 »

If Facebook doesn't try to hire more black developers, this proves they're evil, because they must be racists. If they do try to hire more black developers, this also proves they're evil, because now they're exploiting black people to drive down labor costs. Likewise, if Zuckerberg doesn't donate to charity, he is evil because he's selfishly hoarding his wealth; if he does donate, he's evil because he's trying to exploit the underprivileged to enhance his own prestige.

"Friedrich Spee von Langenfeld, a priest who heard the confessions of condemned witches, wrote in 1631 the Cautio Criminalis ('prudence in criminal cases') in which he bitingly described the decision tree for condemning accused witches. If the witch had led an evil and improper life, she was guilty; if she had led a good and proper life, this too was a proof, for witches dissemble and try to appear especially virtuous. After the woman was put in prison: if she was afraid, this proved her guilt; if she was not afraid, this proved her guilt, for witches characteristically pretend innocence and wear a bold front. Or on hearing of a denunciation of witchcraft against her, she might seek flight or remain; if she ran, that proved her guilt; if she remained, the devil had detained her so she could not get away."

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#12

Post by blackbagboys »

lazaroclapp wrote: post #6
blackbagboys wrote: post #2

I suppose I can't help but admire the chutzpah of cloaking a tax deductible scheme to drive down your labor costs as a noble quest to "advance human potential". Now where did I put my black and red flags...

Doesn't it do both of those, plus also potentially open Facebook to being out-competed by a Nigerian or Kenyan software company? Even if his particular brand of education is in the particular areas in which his company employs people (note that it is also his own personal area of education and expertise), I don't think that should be enough to dismiss funding education as a valid tax deductible charity. Now, if in th…

Andela's business model is to provide low-cost contract labor to large tech firms. This is of course delightful for those African students who benefit from the program and from a business perspective a wise investment by the Chan Zuckerbeg slush fund. I only wish that they would dispense with the nauseatingly self-congratulatory marketing copy.

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#13

Post by [deleted] »

lazaroclapp wrote: post #6
blackbagboys wrote: post #2

I suppose I can't help but admire the chutzpah of cloaking a tax deductible scheme to drive down your labor costs as a noble quest to "advance human potential". Now where did I put my black and red flags...

Doesn't it do both of those, plus also potentially open Facebook to being out-competed by a Nigerian or Kenyan software company? Even if his particular brand of education is in the particular areas in which his company employs people (note that it is also his own personal area of education and expertise), I don't think that should be enough to dismiss funding education as a valid tax deductible charity. Now, if in th…

[deleted]

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#14

Post by blackbagboys »

adwf wrote: post #10
blackbagboys wrote: post #2

I suppose I can't help but admire the chutzpah of cloaking a tax deductible scheme to drive down your labor costs as a noble quest to "advance human potential". Now where did I put my black and red flags...

Whether you believe he is doing a good thing because it's a good thing, or just because he wants to be seen doing a good thing, it doesn't change the fact that the good thing is being done. Tax deductibility does indeed incentivise charitable giving, possibly for selfish reasons. But the person on the recieving end of education/healthcare/whatever, doesn't really care do they? The effect is what's important, not the…

I don't believe that he is making this investment for either of those reasons. I believe he is making it because developing additional pools of low-cost contract labor is in the long term excellent for his business. Additionally, Andela will capture some of the delta between the cost of African and the cost of Indian or American developers, some of which will in turn be returned to the Initiative to finance future forays into making the world safe for oligopoly.

I am sure that some localized Good Things will occur as a byproduct of this arbitrage, but let's not pretend for a second that "advancing human potential" and "promoting equality" are actually the metrics by which the success of this enterprise is being judged.

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#17

Post by lazaroclapp »

blackbagboys wrote: post #12
lazaroclapp wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't it do both of those, plus also potentially open Facebook to being out-competed by a Nigerian or Kenyan software company? Even if his particular brand of education is in the particular areas in which his company employs people (note that it is also his own personal area of education and expertise), I don't think that should be enough to dismiss funding education as a valid tax deductible charity. Now, if in th…

Andela's business model is to provide low-cost contract labor to large tech firms. This is of course delightful for those African students who benefit from the program and from a business perspective a wise investment by the Chan Zuckerbeg slush fund. I only wish that they would dispense with the nauseatingly self-congratulatory marketing copy.

Interesting. I was unaware of this, I thought this was an entirely non-profit code school type program. Is training contingent on them working for Andela afterwards? Because if so, I actually fail to see how this can be considered a nonprofit investment (in which case, I agree, it is a good business deal for everyone involved and maybe even a net-positive-do-good business deal, but one that should probably be taxed... )

Edit: I just realized this indeed an investment from a for-profit company to another, which will actually pay taxes (which is good), but seems to be surprisingly describing itself as a philanthropic initiative. So I actually see your point about this being a strange PR spin on it...

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#18

Post by rdlecler1 »

blackbagboys wrote: post #14
adwf wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether you believe he is doing a good thing because it's a good thing, or just because he wants to be seen doing a good thing, it doesn't change the fact that the good thing is being done. Tax deductibility does indeed incentivise charitable giving, possibly for selfish reasons. But the person on the recieving end of education/healthcare/whatever, doesn't really care do they? The effect is what's important, not the…

I don't believe that he is making this investment for either of those reasons. I believe he is making it because developing additional pools of low-cost contract labor is in the long term excellent for his business. Additionally, Andela will capture some of the delta between the cost of African and the cost of Indian or American developers, some of which will in turn be returned to the Initiative to finance future fo…

You could make the argument that any of his investments will be in his long term self interest. Even investing in an anti-Facebook could be seen as a self interested move "Oh, this is to show that he doesn't support monopoly"

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#19

Post by rdlecler1 »

blackbagboys wrote: post #14
adwf wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whether you believe he is doing a good thing because it's a good thing, or just because he wants to be seen doing a good thing, it doesn't change the fact that the good thing is being done. Tax deductibility does indeed incentivise charitable giving, possibly for selfish reasons. But the person on the recieving end of education/healthcare/whatever, doesn't really care do they? The effect is what's important, not the…

I don't believe that he is making this investment for either of those reasons. I believe he is making it because developing additional pools of low-cost contract labor is in the long term excellent for his business. Additionally, Andela will capture some of the delta between the cost of African and the cost of Indian or American developers, some of which will in turn be returned to the Initiative to finance future fo…

You could make the argument that any of his investments will be in his long term self interest. Even investing in an anti-Facebook could be seen as a self interested move "Oh, this is to show that he doesn't support monopoly"

Re: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative makes its first investment

#20

Post by Sagittary »

apsec112 wrote: post #11

If Facebook doesn't try to hire more black developers, this proves they're evil, because they must be racists. If they do try to hire more black developers, this also proves they're evil, because now they're exploiting black people to drive down labor costs. Likewise, if Zuckerberg doesn't donate to charity, he is evil because he's selfishly hoarding his wealth; if he does donate, he's evil because he's trying to exp…

Interesting little historical texts, thanks for posting.
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