5 ms·

to me, the fact that david plouffe is working with zuckerberg removes an doubt (if there was any to begin with) that mark is going to run for president. he will

to me, the fact that david plouffe is working with zuckerberg removes an doubt (if there was any to begin with) that mark is going to run for president. he will be close to macron's age in 2020, though still younger. shares are trading at 25 cents on the dollar in a market predicting his presidential run: https://www.predictit.org/Contract/5534/Will-Facebook's-Mark-Zuckerberg-run-for-president-in-2020#data https://www.predictit.org/Contract/5534/Will-Facebook's-Mark... just sitting here thinking about him, im kinda torn. my first thought is that he is too young, and has too narrow a breadth of experience. it will be interesting to see how macron fares in france, maybe useful as a point of comparison. zuckerberg is utterly uncharismatic, which i think is a plus- it helps refocus things on issues and ideas and not personality. he is also competent, and not a criminal, or criminally intentioned as far as i can tell. i havent paid very close attention to him though, does it seem like he gives alot of thought to morality and justice? and, of course, it also seems very dangerous to give someone the presidency who controls so much of the media. i will say that the prospect of having a president with an intimate understanding of software dev would be great for modernizing lots of the agencies, which would really help i think. what do you guys think? i hadn't really thought about it too hard till now, but its obviously going to happen, so better to opine before the spin machines get going. edit: the replies here are totally kneejerk and thoughtless. it reminds me of how people seem react to anything new. i dont really give a shit about the guy but given that its a real possibility, its worth talking about, unless you think our current political state is good and we dont need to do anything.

bicubic 9y ago
At this point we need some kind of corporate blacklist of people like zuckerberg, page, and musk. And bar them from ever running for political office.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  That's ridiculous. He'd be more accountable in office than he is as CEO of the world's largest country. I mean, be skeptical of it by all means but banning people from running is just foolish.
  - bicubic 9y ago
    He has a tool to gauge and manipulate public perception, like the current generation of political elite can only dream of. He can push any agenda he wants and have it delivered in just the right way to get the public to agree. You want a dude with that power to also be given executive control of the country?
    - abraves10001 9y ago
      No, but banning him isn't the correct answer, either.
      - metaphorm 9y ago
        what is the correct answer? I think it's self-evident that Facebook has become a kind of mass propaganda tool the likes of which the world has never seen before. Do you think a constitutional republic can survive as a republic if we allow the owners of a media platform that powerful to enter politics?
    - the_cat_kittles 9y ago
      this is a legitimate threat and its one of my biggest misgivings with him. and i dont think its realistic to think that any kind of blind trust / divestment / change in ownership would sufficiently address it. its actually almost disqualifying to me. he doesn't strike me as someone who would use it nefariously, but its stupid not to protect against that.
    - anigbrowl 9y ago
      It's unlikely that he'll be able to have political control and still retain control of FB. Possible, of course, but given the current administration's deliberate attempts to wreck ethical norms I suspect that over the next decade we'll either see a transition to a different form of governance or a much firmer and stricter codification of the distinction between public and private life. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-attempts-to-block-office-of-government-ethics-request/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-attempts-to-block-of... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/eric-trump-nepotism-beautiful-thing-says-us-presidents-children/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/eric-trump-nepoti...
- the_cat_kittles 9y ago
  do i think tech scions and the like make the best presidents? no. but what you are proposing is neither possible to implement, nor defensible. im sure you have some thoughts on why you dont want those people running for office, why not share those.
  - graphememes 9y ago
    Not OP, but if anything what I would like is to prevent those with corporations or large companies from being in office or limited power / huge oversight to prevent bias/favor towards propelling themselves (their company / corp) further than their competition instead of focusing on our society and selves as a whole.
- zepto 9y ago
  Why? How can it be worse than Trump, or a career politician? I don't see how Zuck has any worse flaws than they do, but he might be in a better position to actually understand the electorate and the modern world.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    Imagine if Trump were competent (but still disinterested in people and mostly focused on self aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth and power).
    - zepto 9y ago
      So you think Zuck is nothing more than a competent version of trump? If so, I can see why you wouldn't want him as president.
      - maxerickson 9y ago
        Not Zuckerburg specifically, I was answering How can it be worse than Trump, or a career politician? as a general question. What could be worse than Trump? A competent version. I think Zuckerburg probably has a lot more decency than Trump. Even so, I'm not worried about Zuckerburg as a political candidate, it'll take him succeeding at it for me to believe it is possible.
        the_cat_kittles 9y ago
        how can you be so sure after what just happened in 2016? that was the "showing anyone can win" event su generis. trump winning makes zuckerberg winning infinitely more realistic to me.
        maxerickson 9y ago
        Trump has absolutely huge name recognition and is quite charismatic. Zuckerburg is not really that well known and as you say, not very charismatic. I certainly agree that dark horse candidates can come out of nowhere, I just don't think that Zuckerburg is one of them.
maxerickson 9y ago
A lack of charisma might be desirable in an elected official but it is a huge problem for a candidate. I also wonder why you think that a President understanding software would be especially important in reforming an agency; the actual day to day of implementing reform via software seems pretty delegable.
- the_cat_kittles 9y ago
  yea i agree about candidate. but maybe after this last cycle people's thoughts have started to change. a president understanding software would make things like the botched heathcare.gov rollout less likely, and would help set the agenda for which things to work on. it also means that when you delegate, you are better able to decide who to delegate to. there are so many shitty contracting companies that you wouldn't know to avoid unless you understood the industry i think.
r00fus 9y ago
The thought terrifies me.
fil_a_del_fee_a 9y ago
You make it seem like a Zuckerberg presidency will be anything different from a token Democrat/Republican/Celebrity candidate. They all follow the same rules of increasing military spending and increasing the gap between rich and poor. Zuck will campaign on xyz, and < 100 days later, maintain the status quo.
- the_cat_kittles 9y ago
  what a dumb thing to say. look at history- some presidents have been bad, and some good. you are saying they are all the same. wrong.
  - metaphorm 9y ago
    they're not all the same but s/he is correct to note that every president capitulates to the demands of the military-industrial complex and the finance-capitalist agenda.
    - the_cat_kittles 9y ago
      i dont have illusions about political reality. but that doesn't mean that the choices we make dont matter.
  - fil_a_del_fee_a 9y ago
    I would say since JFK, they all have pledged allegiance to the Military Industrial Complex. Even with Trump, I had some faith based on his mentions of real issues like heroin abuse, but something changed him.. Made him fall in line.
    - bobbington 9y ago
      I think what "made him fall in line" is the senate and House of Representatives, along with the courts to a lesser extent. The fact is while the president may be an honest man, it matters very little because the real change happens among the hundreds of legislators who make the laws. Many of them are bought, and even a perfectly intentioned president must compromise with their interests if he wants to get anything done
ionised 9y ago
> does it seem like he gives alot of thought to morality and justice? No, not from what I can see.

bicubic 9y ago

At this point we need some kind of corporate blacklist of people like zuckerberg, page, and musk. And bar them from ever running for political office.

anigbrowl 9y ago
That's ridiculous. He'd be more accountable in office than he is as CEO of the world's largest country. I mean, be skeptical of it by all means but banning people from running is just foolish.
- bicubic 9y ago
  He has a tool to gauge and manipulate public perception, like the current generation of political elite can only dream of. He can push any agenda he wants and have it delivered in just the right way to get the public to agree. You want a dude with that power to also be given executive control of the country?
  - abraves10001 9y ago
    No, but banning him isn't the correct answer, either.
    - metaphorm 9y ago
      what is the correct answer? I think it's self-evident that Facebook has become a kind of mass propaganda tool the likes of which the world has never seen before. Do you think a constitutional republic can survive as a republic if we allow the owners of a media platform that powerful to enter politics?
  - the_cat_kittles 9y ago
    this is a legitimate threat and its one of my biggest misgivings with him. and i dont think its realistic to think that any kind of blind trust / divestment / change in ownership would sufficiently address it. its actually almost disqualifying to me. he doesn't strike me as someone who would use it nefariously, but its stupid not to protect against that.
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    It's unlikely that he'll be able to have political control and still retain control of FB. Possible, of course, but given the current administration's deliberate attempts to wreck ethical norms I suspect that over the next decade we'll either see a transition to a different form of governance or a much firmer and stricter codification of the distinction between public and private life. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-attempts-to-block-office-of-government-ethics-request/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-attempts-to-block-of... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/eric-trump-nepotism-beautiful-thing-says-us-presidents-children/ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/10/eric-trump-nepoti...
the_cat_kittles 9y ago
do i think tech scions and the like make the best presidents? no. but what you are proposing is neither possible to implement, nor defensible. im sure you have some thoughts on why you dont want those people running for office, why not share those.
- graphememes 9y ago
  Not OP, but if anything what I would like is to prevent those with corporations or large companies from being in office or limited power / huge oversight to prevent bias/favor towards propelling themselves (their company / corp) further than their competition instead of focusing on our society and selves as a whole.
zepto 9y ago
Why? How can it be worse than Trump, or a career politician? I don't see how Zuck has any worse flaws than they do, but he might be in a better position to actually understand the electorate and the modern world.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Imagine if Trump were competent (but still disinterested in people and mostly focused on self aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth and power).
  - zepto 9y ago
    So you think Zuck is nothing more than a competent version of trump? If so, I can see why you wouldn't want him as president.
    - maxerickson 9y ago
      Not Zuckerburg specifically, I was answering How can it be worse than Trump, or a career politician? as a general question. What could be worse than Trump? A competent version. I think Zuckerburg probably has a lot more decency than Trump. Even so, I'm not worried about Zuckerburg as a political candidate, it'll take him succeeding at it for me to believe it is possible.
      - the_cat_kittles 9y ago
        how can you be so sure after what just happened in 2016? that was the "showing anyone can win" event su generis. trump winning makes zuckerberg winning infinitely more realistic to me.
        maxerickson 9y ago
        Trump has absolutely huge name recognition and is quite charismatic. Zuckerburg is not really that well known and as you say, not very charismatic. I certainly agree that dark horse candidates can come out of nowhere, I just don't think that Zuckerburg is one of them.

maxerickson 9y ago

A lack of charisma might be desirable in an elected official but it is a huge problem for a candidate. I also wonder why you think that a President understanding software would be especially important in reforming an agency; the actual day to day of implementing reform via software seems pretty delegable.

the_cat_kittles 9y ago
yea i agree about candidate. but maybe after this last cycle people's thoughts have started to change. a president understanding software would make things like the botched heathcare.gov rollout less likely, and would help set the agenda for which things to work on. it also means that when you delegate, you are better able to decide who to delegate to. there are so many shitty contracting companies that you wouldn't know to avoid unless you understood the industry i think.

r00fus 9y ago

The thought terrifies me.

fil_a_del_fee_a 9y ago

You make it seem like a Zuckerberg presidency will be anything different from a token Democrat/Republican/Celebrity candidate. They all follow the same rules of increasing military spending and increasing the gap between rich and poor. Zuck will campaign on xyz, and < 100 days later, maintain the status quo.

the_cat_kittles 9y ago
what a dumb thing to say. look at history- some presidents have been bad, and some good. you are saying they are all the same. wrong.
- metaphorm 9y ago
  they're not all the same but s/he is correct to note that every president capitulates to the demands of the military-industrial complex and the finance-capitalist agenda.
  - the_cat_kittles 9y ago
    i dont have illusions about political reality. but that doesn't mean that the choices we make dont matter.
- fil_a_del_fee_a 9y ago
  I would say since JFK, they all have pledged allegiance to the Military Industrial Complex. Even with Trump, I had some faith based on his mentions of real issues like heroin abuse, but something changed him.. Made him fall in line.
  - bobbington 9y ago
    I think what "made him fall in line" is the senate and House of Representatives, along with the courts to a lesser extent. The fact is while the president may be an honest man, it matters very little because the real change happens among the hundreds of legislators who make the laws. Many of them are bought, and even a perfectly intentioned president must compromise with their interests if he wants to get anything done

ionised 9y ago

> does it seem like he gives alot of thought to morality and justice? No, not from what I can see.