I don't think he was doing any of that. I think he was reminding people that American enterprise made use of publicly funded infrastructure.
The Onion buys Infowars
- Thread starter Marvin the Martian
- Start date
Me too, but only for the shock value and to initially upright the ship.
But I am shortly there after, like always (other than cooler snark) in the camp that too much power in too few hands, is not an optimum scenario.
(Other than my portfolio, then you all can go eff yourselves, of course)...
A federal judge has said that the sale of info wars did not happen. It has to do with the highest bidder not getting the bid. I checked Alex's website and he still is doing his info wars show. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out.
I think this is a measured approach and post, with one exception. To claim feudalism and slavery were destined to fail is short sighted in light of a discussion about capitalism. Feudalism existed for 6 or 7 hundred years, before it started to wane in the 15th Century and was still going strong in Russia and China into the 20th century. Slavery ended not 200 years ago and existed for thousands of years before that. Capitalism, meanwhile, is what, 200-250 years old?
Re Obama, again, for the umpteenth time: it's a spectrum. Just because someone is justifying moving the slider on the scale closer to what they consider the common good ( you might not, I get that) doesn't mean they don't understand or value the individualist value on the other side. For example, it would be wrong for Milton Friedman to call you a collectivist if you wanted antidiscrimination laws and he did not. And it would be wrong of you to call Friedman a collectivist because he wrote and spoke in terms of freedom of families vs. freedom of individuals sometimes.
Also, wanting to move in the direction of the common good doesn't mean Obama wants to move the slider all the way over to the other pole. In that very speech, he acknowledges the value of individualism JUST LIKE Trump called out neo-Nazis in his "very fine people" speech.
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In part, yes. But he also referenced teachers. So I don't think he was only talking about infrastructure.
And he began the comment with "If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help." And that's undeniably true, on its face. I can't imagine anybody denying this. But, then, everybody had teachers, roads, parents, mentors, pastors, coaches, etc. Yet even people from the similar environments and origins reach varying levels of economic success.
The outcomes people have in life are not entirely determined by things they have or haven't done, choices they have or haven't made. But they're determined by these at some level -- and, I'd guess in most cases, moreso than the external influences that played a role. It's certainly true that a lot of people were born on third base without hitting a triple. But it's not uncommon for those guys to get picked off. And it's also not uncommon for 9th batters to come up and hit dingers.
Also, my general gripe about what he said -- which might sound nitpicky, but I would push back against that -- is that he used the term "somebody along the line gave you some help."
I would argue that most of the people we interact with for our own benefit aren't giving us anything. And most of them didn't do whatever they did...to help us -- even if it did help us achieve our goals. I'm certainly not saying that doesn't happen. But think about the thousands of people we may engage with in a professional career. Let's not kid ourselves into denying that, in most cases, their motivation in engaging with us was for their own benefit...not for ours.
And, after all, mutual benefit is the entire idea behind commerce in all its forms. It's a good thing! But it's not an altruistic thing, as I believe he was presenting it.
At least at any painful level. People are generous with guidance. Fairly generous with their time. Stingy with their money. Stingy with attaching their business. Any partnerships we seek we only do so from the standpoint of hey I think we can help you, and in turn it’ll benefit us
With significant constant contact with government agencies and regulations, Wall Street, Big Banks. Big Tech, Elon is connected.
No one better...
Slavery is alive in many parts of the world today. I make the argument that most Chinese workers are slaves because they are forced by the government to work and live in certain places. In Africa and the middle east Islamic governments practice slavery. Yet look at which economic system is number one. It is capitalism unless Obama or Biden is in control of the economy. Let's look at Trumps economy in two years and see how well it does.
Most aren't. But some do. Teachers, relatives, friends, mentors, coaches, church leaders, etc. give to people all the time, and they do it to help. That's who Obama was referencing.
Human interaction is much more than just commerce.
