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Dear Marc Andreessen

al3x.net

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Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#81

Post by wpietri »

nickff wrote: post #52
nl wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US they are effectively deregulated in close to every way the actors care about (aka regulatory capture). Additionally, enforcement of the few regulations that exist is close to nonexistent. Edit: downvotes, so here's some references: On Regulatory Capture: a growing number of respected commentators now argue that regulatory capture of public agencies and public policy by leading banks was one of the main caus…

I cannot find any hard data on the very long term trend of numbers of SEC enforcement actions, but they seem to be on the rise in the long term, though they have fluctuated greatly. From the books I've read and interviews I've heard, it seems that the opposite is true; financial sector prosecutions have become so common that it is now regarded as a 'cost of doing business' more than a stain on one's reputation. edit:…

I'd suggest you read Bair's "Bull by the Horns". Bair, a Bush-appointed Republican who ran the FDIC during the 2008 crisis, made it pretty clear that regulation had become ineffective in a number of important ways. The last chapter is a call for significant strengthening of US financial regulation.

I'd say the "cost of doing business" thing cuts against your argument, though. I read that as the regulations (or the regulators) not being strong enough to keep bad actors in check.

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#82

Post by corford »

RichardFord wrote: post #74
corford wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I struggle to understand how a non-biased, rational person can read that post (and the linked articles within) and not, at the very least, leave in broad (not necessarily absolute) agreement with what al3x is saying.

You made my point.

Or perhaps you made mine

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#83

Post by swah »

paul wrote: post #42
jdminhbg wrote: post #15

> Taxi drivers protesting Uber aren’t saying that they want apps out of their cabs. Of course they aren't saying that, it would be political suicide to say it. But given the stubborn resistance to even using the credit card readers forced on them by utility commissions, do people really think that cabbies are aching to have apps between them and their customers that would thwart their ability to skip inconvenient far…

I feel like both the left and the right are trying to take us back to some idealized version of the 1950's. I want a political movement based on creating a new and better future, not hanging on to shreds of the past. We now have the technology and resources necessary to provide everyone with adequate food, housing, healthcare, and education. That's what I want, not more "job creation" or preservation of obsolete jobs…

This is related to PG's essay on wealth: http://www.paulgraham.com/wealth.html

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#84

Post by rapind »

gbog wrote: post #60
bokonist wrote: post #22

I'm with Alex generally, but disagree with this sentence: "We could make the choice to pay for universal health care, higher education, and a basic income tomorrow" In the last sixty years, a tremendous amount of money has been poured into education. Much money has been allocated to increase college enrollment. But, IMO, for the vast majority of people, college education is a luxury social club. Spending more money o…

Ok, but those who just do not want to be assigned a productive task, what would you do with them?

Show them a documentary about the working environment of the lower class in China.

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#85

Post by sanswork »

gbog wrote: post #60
bokonist wrote: post #22

I'm with Alex generally, but disagree with this sentence: "We could make the choice to pay for universal health care, higher education, and a basic income tomorrow" In the last sixty years, a tremendous amount of money has been poured into education. Much money has been allocated to increase college enrollment. But, IMO, for the vast majority of people, college education is a luxury social club. Spending more money o…

Ok, but those who just do not want to be assigned a productive task, what would you do with them?

Support them as a society. There will always be a tiny % that won't or can't work. Unless you want to let them die you will spend more money and effort trying to find the people abusing the system then you will spend on their abuses.

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#86

Post by avn2109 »

bokonist wrote: post #73
jseliger wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the last sixty years, a tremendous amount of money has been poured into education I wrote about adjacent issues in "Why can’t we solve poverty, or solve it through schools?", which got started in emails and Hacker News comments on the issue ( http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/why-cant-we-solve-p... ). In addition, and as I discuss in the post, right now we can't "solve" poverty because poverty is a moving m…

In addition, and as I discuss in the post, right now we can't "solve" poverty because poverty is a moving metric, usually defined as a percentage of income, rather than as an absolute value. Yes, and this reminds me a point I left out. We also need to look for ways to reduce the cost of living for the basic stuffs of life. In many ways a poor person now is wealthier than 40 years ago. However, the cost of living need…

>> "... because the entire transportation structure was designed for cars. If everyone else is driving a three ton steel machine, you need to drive one too, and better get one with airbags and a four-star crash rating."

It's almost like the man designed it this way so as to incentivize you to borrow money from him to buy cars. The only thing stopping something like that would be the fact that the auto industry didn't historically have vast domestic political power and close ties to high finance... wait a second...

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#87

Post by adventured »

corford wrote: post #61
RichardFord wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He didn't take anything apart. He's just another leftist that has a hard time comprehending that some people have differently ideological views that his own.

I struggle to understand how a non-biased, rational person can read that post (and the linked articles within) and not, at the very least, leave in broad (not necessarily absolute) agreement with what al3x is saying.

That's an entirely ad hominem statement.

You're implying that anybody that disagrees is irrational and biased. Worse, you proclaim it requires broad agreement.

Which part do you struggle with exactly?

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#88

Post by SatoshiPacioli »

cariss wrote: post #38
SatoshiPacioli wrote: post #7

"Taxi drivers protesting Uber aren’t saying that they want apps out of their cabs. They want leverage to negotiate wages and working conditions so they aren’t barely scraping by. The pushback is on exploitative business models, not technology." I have been on the receiving end of exploitative business models. The answer is Exit, not Voice. Here's why: enough people exit -> wages go up and/or working conditions improv…

To the quote above: wages are determined by productivity, not negotiation leverage. The moral implications of "barely scraping by" don't factor in.

Ehrm, no, obviously not. A marketing intern can be more productive than an engineering intern and make 1/2 as much. It's determined by supply and demand, nothing else.

Re: Dear Marc Andreessen

#89

Post by rdl »

mattgreenrocks wrote: post #49
rdl wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's fundamentally a nerd, and optimistic about humanity. That's enough to be better than 95% of people in power.

That sounds like you presume he's like you, so he's OK.

That's actually wrong. I'm not optimistic about humanity. pmarca seems to be, which is why I like reading him (and Thiel, etc.), even though I don't totally believe everything they say. I think the world would be better with more pmarcas, though.

I may be a nerd, but I'm willing to bet basically everyone on HN shares that trait.

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