3 ms·

Unless we can find a way to give everyone a basic level of subsistence without any bureaucracy (read a basic living income) then nothing startups can do will he

Unless we can find a way to give everyone a basic level of subsistence without any bureaucracy (read a basic living income) then nothing startups can do will help, apart from driving your business into the ground as there is no one to pay for it! Charities will not even touch the scale of the problem going forward.

hguant 11y ago
I think the existence of the Gates Foudation and the success it has had is sufficient rubutal of your argument.
- MBlume 11y ago
  Ok, then the plan is start a world-beating company which monopolizes its (rapidly growing) market, then retire and start a non-profit.
  - jholman 11y ago
    It might not be the best plan, but it's not the worst plan. Step one: Do something mildly skeevy that skims from the public weal, e.g. by using monopoly power to suppress competition (hurting the ability of the invisible hand to give hand-jobs to the rich) and thereby profiting more than an "honest businessman" would. Step two: take actions that will actually benefit the least fortunate on a massive scale. More concisely, steal from the rich, give to the poor. Bill Gates is Robin Hood. We who read HN are the rich from whom he stole. I used to mildly resent it, but now I only resent that he couldn't figure out how to do it without side effects like giving a cut to Steve Ballmer and giving Paul Allen the capital he needed to start Intellectual Ventures. Until those guys start Robin Hooding too, at which point I abandon all comprehension of which white collar bastards are actually bastards.
    - marcosdumay 11y ago
      Sorry, but some of those "rich" is my country's government, that Microsoft was caught bribing a couple of times and, like every other government, gets its money basically from the poor.
sremani 11y ago
A businessman is a pragmatist, if the unexotic underclass as a whole can be a good market, a business will serve them. The start-up culture of trying to hit the homerun, and making billions needs certain kind of generic market, but if a few million dollars worth market is present among these unexotic underclass, SV will not make a play, but a few good people can come together and work on the 'big problem'. You do not have be necessarily a charity for being both socially beneficial and economically profitable, but I concede it a very difficult intersection to find.
andy_ppp 11y ago
I should say I'm extrapolating out a trend; there is no working poor in 20 years - there are those under complete government control, watched every waking moment, scared to stop earning a meagre living. That's you. There are also the proles.

hguant 11y ago

I think the existence of the Gates Foudation and the success it has had is sufficient rubutal of your argument.

MBlume 11y ago
Ok, then the plan is start a world-beating company which monopolizes its (rapidly growing) market, then retire and start a non-profit.
- jholman 11y ago
  It might not be the best plan, but it's not the worst plan. Step one: Do something mildly skeevy that skims from the public weal, e.g. by using monopoly power to suppress competition (hurting the ability of the invisible hand to give hand-jobs to the rich) and thereby profiting more than an "honest businessman" would. Step two: take actions that will actually benefit the least fortunate on a massive scale. More concisely, steal from the rich, give to the poor. Bill Gates is Robin Hood. We who read HN are the rich from whom he stole. I used to mildly resent it, but now I only resent that he couldn't figure out how to do it without side effects like giving a cut to Steve Ballmer and giving Paul Allen the capital he needed to start Intellectual Ventures. Until those guys start Robin Hooding too, at which point I abandon all comprehension of which white collar bastards are actually bastards.
  - marcosdumay 11y ago
    Sorry, but some of those "rich" is my country's government, that Microsoft was caught bribing a couple of times and, like every other government, gets its money basically from the poor.

sremani 11y ago

A businessman is a pragmatist, if the unexotic underclass as a whole can be a good market, a business will serve them. The start-up culture of trying to hit the homerun, and making billions needs certain kind of generic market, but if a few million dollars worth market is present among these unexotic underclass, SV will not make a play, but a few good people can come together and work on the 'big problem'. You do not have be necessarily a charity for being both socially beneficial and economically profitable, but I concede it a very difficult intersection to find.

andy_ppp 11y ago

I should say I'm extrapolating out a trend; there is no working poor in 20 years - there are those under complete government control, watched every waking moment, scared to stop earning a meagre living. That's you. There are also the proles.