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Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

david.newgas.net

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Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#361

Post by [deleted] »

consensus1 wrote: post #347
nekusar wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Properly planning the economy, ala the Chinese tier system, is a good thing. They have 3 tiers. Its called 新基建 - *Xīn Jījiàn Top tier is for essentials like food, electricity, internet/comms, water, sewer. Heavily controlled, usually state owned companies. Middle tier is stuff that's integrated into essential tier. Lower tier is forefront of tech, and not at all critical for life. And a reminder that even fucks like…

This is not that dissimilar to the US. The government either controls directly or is very heavily involved in all those things you listed in the top tier.

[deleted]

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#362

Post by nekusar »

cogman10 wrote: post #359
kingleopold wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inside non capitalist places, those solutions dont even get to EXIST. Nobody even cares about nasty disease solution and funding. They don't get invented or they are not allowed for your use, by design. This is a very narrow view and what a word salad. Now tell me name of the great "Communist countries" that exist today and they are big and have lots of great things to pursue humankind and human lifespan. I will wait…

> Nobody even cares about nasty disease solution and funding. This is just silly. The US has such a large lead in research output because of direct government intervention and funding since about the 1950s. That is a big part of why up until the Trump admin the US has been a powerhouse in medicine. China is very likely going to be the next world leader in medicine. They've been investing heavily in biomedical researc…

Yep. One big pattern you will see with capititalist countries is they will carry on that "competition is amazing and wonderful"....

But when communism wants to compete with capitalism, suddenly competition is evil and you're godless and all the slurs capitalists use.

And we see with mild socialists like Mamdani, its easy to see the hate and slurs.

Like, do you or do you not like competition?

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#363

Post by mywittyname »

pwagland wrote: post #301
bawolff wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do people really have a duty to fix every wrong in the world? He reported it to the project head, and resigned. He ensured he wasn't a part of the situation. I don't think you have to be a full saint to fulfil your moral obligations. He ensured he wasn't implicitly participating and reported it to someone who had a responsibility to investigate/do something about it. That is a reasonable amount of effort to rectify t…

They didn't blow the whistle though, not really. Especially not when gp said that they expected the department head to brush it under the rug. If reporting things "up the chain of command" was really expected to root corruption out, and this fraud is 100% a form of corruption, then whistle blowing simply wouldn't be needed. They covered their own ass, which is fine, in that later the head can't say they didn't know a…

Whistleblowers get worse punishments than the criminals they report on.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#364

Post by nickff »

Xirdus wrote: post #294
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People want more government control, but when governments take more control the press tells the people that it's bad and the people acquiesce. In local forums, so often you see (paraphrasing a pattern) "why are the government interfering with landlords, they should stop so many barbers opening instead". That is, why are the gov interfering in property markets, instead they should interfere in property markets AND pla…

I know a lot of left win Europeans who promote planned economy without realising it. So there's that. I think a better way to look at it is people demanding the government to intervene whenever intervention is beneficial to them personally, while demanding the government leave things alone whenever intervention is detrimental to them personally. Which is just a long winded way to describe the basics of democracy - pe…

“The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.” ― Frederic Bastiat

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/70896-the-state-is-that-gre...

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#365

Post by [deleted] »

jdw64 wrote: post #169
etothepii wrote: post #25

As a junior software engineer, I worked at a large UK bank. Senior management routinely seem baffled that they could announce redundancies or hiring freezes, yet technology costs would continue to rise. One pattern I saw repeatedly was a contractor being let go, only to return via a large outsourcing provider. The provider must have added a substantial markup despite supplying the same engineer back to the same team,…

In my experience, it's probably due to differences in budget line items. Usually, regular labor costs and outsourcing costs are budgeted separately. Some teams may not have the authority to hire an additional full-time employee, but they do have the authority to use external contractors. On top of that, the internal political landscape differs as well. When it comes to office politics, increasing headcount in a parti…

[deleted]

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#366

Post by dwater »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #350
rayiner wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Public-private partnerships work very well in Asia. But the government has more oversight over the private entity and a heavier hand with policing results. A big problem in the Anglosphere in particular is that the government is too focused on politics and catering to internal stakeholders and not enough on measurable results.

I've heard horror stories about some parts of Asia. There are huge cities built because some bureaucrat wanted to build it, not because anyone wanted to live there. And the buildings are largely empty. Those are the most visible examples. That being said, there are some good examples too. And even a few good examples might be better than the partnerships in Canada.

Let's not forget 1MDB, where $4.5B of government money was looted under the pretense of investment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1MDB_scandal

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#367

Post by jijijijij »

franze wrote: post #275
RandyRanderson wrote: post #272

In Canada this is a huge scam. The government advertizes that it's funding incubators. Great, right? The money doesn't go to the start ups - it all goes to large tech companies like IBM, etc, because, obviously, IBM knows about innovation. The cover is that the government doesn't know tech so it will give money to trusted partners and they will choose who to give the money to because they've been doing such a great j…

Sounds like Europe....

German here, can confirm. Although, I don't think it's honest incompetence, but intentional corruption. Eg. public calls for bids tend to be a little too specific and politicians tend to get jobs where they funneled public money.

However, things are changing... As of this current government, nobody is scheming anymore. The corruption and wealth extraction happens openly. They are really testing the waters in what they can get away with. It's almost US level audacity, tho not yet as undignified. The sad part is, although people here are universally frustrated about it, they flock to the one party evidently more corrupt and incompetent than the CDU: The AfD.

Honestly, despite political disagreement, all my life I considered myself lucky to live here, but for the first time it makes me sick thinking about Germany's future, working here and paying taxes. And the base motives showing as reactionary malice by my fellow citizens disgust me. It's shameful to admit, but this country is truly ill and deeply corrupt.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#369

Post by eudamoniac »

pdimitar wrote: post #63
shermantanktop wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At a small company, anyone can damage the company prospects. But product people have outsized negative impact when they are wrong. They can tank the whole company in short order. Which is maybe as it should be, but it does pit agonized debates over detailed technical work in perspective.

All true but every time I tried to help with an outsider's perspective -- and IMO us as engineers with systems thinking _can_ contribute -- I was told to shut up and stay in my lane (more politely than that but still crystal clear what's the underlying message + a clear show of we-will-not-debate-this-again). So let them do damage. I do what I am told, I have the strategic thinking but not many have made use of it. O…

That's when I mentally tally my stock options at $0 (if they weren't so already) and assess my new TC situation. If I have lost ability to influence the business in any meaningful way, then why am I being paid in company ownership units?

Reminds me of when I, as a UI dev at a very small startup, became subordinate to the new designer (who was a big fan of large fonts and huge whitespace margins in our professional tool) regardless of any UX concerns. My opinion on UI/UX was highly valued as long as it completely agreed with the designer's :-) She is, after all, the professional.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#370

Post by zahlman »

worldthruword wrote: post #279
patkai wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Behind many, but I sincerely hope not "every". A trivial counterexample is Warren Buffet: he simply saved and invested. Or consider inventors with patents.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-buffett-generated-doub... https://x.com/theallinpod/status/2022746722191938017 Chamath explains Warren Buffett’s secret to success: “Markets thrive when there's information asymmetry” “Now I'm gonna get a lot of people really upset with me.” “This is an example of Warren Buffet's returns pre- and post-Reg FD. Now what do you see?” “His returns were double the market returns when…

What part of this demonstrates corruption, fraud or other crime?
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