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Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

nytimes.com

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Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#31

Post by jopsen »

laughinghan wrote: post #14
734786710934 wrote: post #8

There's a weird disconnect in this article between the reality of what Zuckerberg is trying to do and the agenda being pushed by the author. You have this paragraph: "The social network has been lobbying to build more housing in the region, which Silicon Valley cities, worried about traffic and preferring a commercial over residential tax base, have fought against. In East Palo Alto, Facebook has invested $18.5 milli…

Interesting, I didn't feel at all like there was a weird disconnect or agenda being pushed. In fact, it felt to me like a pained attempt to paint a contentious situation fairly and factually. It seems all too plausible to me that both of the following might be factually true: • Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are putting a lot of money into the local community and feel like they are going above and beyond their obligati…

> in fact, they have no right or claim to getting more from, or even what they currently get from, Facebook

Well, can't they enact taxes if they wanted to?

Hence, gaining a right to more money from Facebook.

Personally, I don't think any level of government should be beholden to charity from cooperations. Schools, infrastructure, and other things that make up a desirable community are not free, taxes is the tool to finance them.

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#32

Post by jopsen »

Decade wrote: post #26
jacobolus wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having unaccountable billionaires with no knowledge of the field dump piles of money down (along with dictating how it should be spent) in a splashy PR stunt is a horrible way to improve public institutions. Instead we should properly tax the billionaires, and then elect public officials who value public education, so they can figure out how to improve schools with the advice and help of all of the local stakeholders…

It would be nice if the public officials actually cared about education, and weren’t using the position as a sinecure until a position with real power opens up. https://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/politics/who-are-all-these-... I do not blame people who care wanting to work around this system.

> I do not blame people who care wanting to work around this system.

Agree.... But workarounds won't scale.

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#34

Post by jacobolus »

indubitable wrote: post #30
jacobolus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good god no. Zuckerberg would be a terrible president (less narcissistic and less stupid than the current one, but perhaps just as dangerous), without the appropriate qualifications, experience, vision, talent, or track record (other than a boatload of money, which I guess in this post-Citizens-United world can substitute for anything else). The concept of having a cabal of CEO billionaires with no political or polic…

A simple question for you. Do you think the way up the current US political ladder is more about merit or more about quid quo pro ? I think there's this sort of cognitive dissonance many of us are suffering. Are you happy with your professional politicians in Washington? Do you think they're doing a good job? It seems to me that many people want change in Washington, and don't appreciate that the 'political experienc…

Yes, many professional politicians in Washington are dedicated public servants doing their best under difficult pressures. They additionally are supported by a large staff of career professionals who are largely there because they believe in the mission. Unfortunately leadership of one of the two major political parties has been working to trash basic democratic norms and public institutions, with members of that party under duress from some of their reprehensible donors.

US education is deteriorating rapidly in places where undermining it and breaking it down has been prioritized by a handful of billionaire political donors, for example recently in Kansas and Wisconsin.

The most important first step toward fixing such problems is to pull the unaccountable, unlimited, anonymous money out of politics, and replace it with proper campaign finance regulations. Next we can try to guarantee every citizen the franchise, make our voting process saner and more auditable, and work on reducing computer-driven gerrymandering.

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#35

Post by nl »

indubitable wrote: post #30
jacobolus wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good god no. Zuckerberg would be a terrible president (less narcissistic and less stupid than the current one, but perhaps just as dangerous), without the appropriate qualifications, experience, vision, talent, or track record (other than a boatload of money, which I guess in this post-Citizens-United world can substitute for anything else). The concept of having a cabal of CEO billionaires with no political or polic…

A simple question for you. Do you think the way up the current US political ladder is more about merit or more about quid quo pro ? I think there's this sort of cognitive dissonance many of us are suffering. Are you happy with your professional politicians in Washington? Do you think they're doing a good job? It seems to me that many people want change in Washington, and don't appreciate that the 'political experienc…

Do you think the way up the current US political ladder is more about merit or more about quid quo pro? I think there's this sort of cognitive dissonance many of us are suffering. Are you happy with your professional politicians in Washington? Do you think they're doing a good job? It seems to me that many people want change in Washington, and don't appreciate that the 'political experience' rhetoric is being pushed by DC insiders in an effort to try to strengthen their own grasp on power.

That's the conventional argument of course. But it's pretty clear the one party wants to govern, and one wants to "strangle the beast" (that is literally the policy).

It seems to me that people want government to govern, but not waste money, and they are fine with politicians who aren't captured by interest groups.

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#36

Post by humanrebar »

r00fus wrote: post #19
tomjen3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The proper way is what works.

That is a tautology/ syllogism. How do you know what works (and if something else would have been better)?

No, it's saying a proper way must work. If you think your approach works, please make the case for that. Keep in mind that the system whereby public school districts are funded by local taxes have a spotty record at best.

Disclaimer: Saying public schools have a spotty record isn't insulting people who work in or love public schools. Objectively, property values correlate with school quality for a reason. And high property values make quality schools more expensive, especially for the poor, but the profits are captured by landlords, not the school system or the general fund of local government. Point being, this isn't a personal, us-versus-them fight.

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#37

Post by tea-flow »

jopsen wrote: post #32
Decade wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be nice if the public officials actually cared about education, and weren’t using the position as a sinecure until a position with real power opens up. https://www.thebaycitybeacon.com/politics/who-are-all-these-... I do not blame people who care wanting to work around this system.

> I do not blame people who care wanting to work around this system. Agree.... But workarounds won't scale.

Why not?

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#38

Post by [deleted] »

jopsen wrote: post #31
laughinghan wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, I didn't feel at all like there was a weird disconnect or agenda being pushed. In fact, it felt to me like a pained attempt to paint a contentious situation fairly and factually. It seems all too plausible to me that both of the following might be factually true: • Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are putting a lot of money into the local community and feel like they are going above and beyond their obligati…

> in fact, they have no right or claim to getting more from, or even what they currently get from, Facebook Well, can't they enact taxes if they wanted to? Hence, gaining a right to more money from Facebook. Personally, I don't think any level of government should be beholden to charity from cooperations. Schools, infrastructure, and other things that make up a desirable community are not free, taxes is the tool to f…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook Founder’s Favor Comes with Complications

#40

Post by QAPereo »

734786710934 wrote: post #8

There's a weird disconnect in this article between the reality of what Zuckerberg is trying to do and the agenda being pushed by the author. You have this paragraph: "The social network has been lobbying to build more housing in the region, which Silicon Valley cities, worried about traffic and preferring a commercial over residential tax base, have fought against. In East Palo Alto, Facebook has invested $18.5 milli…

SV wealth is protected from taxation, see: Apple and Google and Facebook. That doesn’t scream, “helpful” or “trying to spread it around” to me.
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