6 ms·

I'm not sure why she's so gung-ho on this. I can't imagine it's a popular issue with the average voter, especially when tech is one of the last true paths to th

by ng12 7y ago

I'm not sure why she's so gung-ho on this. I can't imagine it's a popular issue with the average voter, especially when tech is one of the last true paths to the middle class Americans have left. On the other hand even my tech illiterate family members would like to see Comcast taken down a few pegs.

happytoexplain 7y ago
Isn't she also targeting Comcast? I know she's made similar criticisms of them, but maybe I'm just assuming that means she wants to go after them explicitly.
- ng12 7y ago
  The most recent article I can find on the issue is from 2016. She's definitely cooled it on Comcast/Verizon since.
  - happytoexplain 7y ago
    That's unfortunate - I agree ISPs would be a more poplar target on both sides of the aisle.
hello_friendos 7y ago
Where did she say she would ban technology. Splitting up a company that has become too large is a good thing for competition.
supercanuck 7y ago
Because it is affecting how people in the United States consume information and that is affecting the functioning of our democracy
js2 7y ago
See the "A Public Option for Broadband" section here: https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/invest-rural https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/invest-rural
- vbtemp 7y ago
  I wonder if she (or her staffers) actually think with a straight face that this is actually a thing that many people care about? It seems marketed for coastal elites who are being patronizing towards rural americans. They knew what they're doing and what they're voting for - (anti)immigration, culture war, agricultural subsidies carry far more weight than elitist plans like this.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - untog 7y ago
    Are you sure you're not being patronizing towards rural communities yourself by presuming that they are not interested in fast internet access? Not to mention presuming their views on things like immigration (farms hire a lot of immigrants)
  - eli_gottlieb 7y ago
    One of my best friends works a remote software engineering job in a relatively rural area. He needs fast internet.
drblast 7y ago
This is the primary. Democrats will be gung-ho on things that they think will win the primary then race to the center in the general election. Either that, or they'll stupidly alienate over half of all voters by standing firm on losing issues again and again and hand Trump the victory. I'm not Nate Silver, but I think it's 50/50 shot of either of these being true.
monocasa 7y ago
Both sides of the political spectrum are pissed at Facebook at least. Both the far left and far right feel like they're being silenced, and politicians have to be special cased in Facebook's system apparently in order to not get auto takedowns, and they still sometimes run afowl. Will breaking Facebook up have any benefit? Probably not, but there's bipartisan support for doing something.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > Both the far left and far right feel like they're being silenced I'm in the group of people who thinks that Facebook is a huge problem, but I don't think the problem is that they're silencing anybody, left or right.
skyyler 7y ago
What makes you say that tech is one of the last true paths to the middle class?
- twright 7y ago
  I think what they mean is that it's generally a very well paid field (with decent benefits) and that the barrier to entry is not incredibly high.
  - mruts 7y ago
    Sure it is. Most people I know could never, ever, cut it as a developer. Most people are just too stupid. And most developers are pretty stupid as well, so that’s saying something.
- ng12 7y ago
  Because a bachelor's degree in CS from a state school can very realistically be the key to a six-figure salary. Most other "white color" professions either require significantly more schooling or have dimmer job prospects.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
czinck 7y ago
It's a very popular issue with the average voter, >60% approve and 20% are unsure. And it seems to be popular across party/ideological lines. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/18/20870938/break-up-big-tech-google-facebook-amazon-poll https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/18/20870938/b...
- yourbandsucks 7y ago
  Yup. And honestly, everyone outside of the valley wants to take the valley down a notch. They're easier to hate than Wall Street, even. Seems like a slam dunk for popularity.
- untog 7y ago
  She just tweeted: "Imagine Facebook and Instagram trying to outdo each other to protect your privacy and keep misinformation out of your feed, instead of working together to sell your data, inundate you with misinformation, and undermine our election security. That's why we need to #BreakUpBigTech." https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179118108633636865 https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179118108633636865 It isn't too difficult to articulate why the average voter might be interested in it.
  - ng12 7y ago
    > Imagine Facebook and Instagram trying to outdo each other to protect your privacy and keep misinformation out of your feed This feels like an unrealistic fantasy. If it hasn't been the case for FB vs Twitter vs Snap, what makes her think adding IG back into the mix will?
    - untog 7y ago
      Twitter and Snap have never meaningfully competed with Facebook in terms of market share. Probably one of the reasons FB didn't acquire them, too.
      - mruts 7y ago
ajross 7y ago
> popular issue with the average voter She's running in a primary election. "Build the wall" never crossed 50% in a general poll either, but it was still a winning argument.
untog 7y ago
> tech is one of the last true paths to the middle class Americans have left 1. is that really true? I don't see it myself. 2. splitting up Facebook would not suddenly mean there are no jobs in tech. If anything it might mean there are more, as there would be great competition.
- AllanHoustonSt 7y ago
  Out of the popular/common white collar jobs that can help someone push oneself out of the lower middle class rut which include medicine, law, banking, software, etc I'd certainly say software has the lowest barrier for entry and highest ROI wrt education/time/financial cost. I wouldn't be surprised if the median household income for kids entering medicine/law/banking are well above those studying cs.
- ng12 7y ago
  It's one of the few fields where a bachelor's degree from a state school can pretty easily lead to a six-figure salary.
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    Yes, but I also don't see how breaking up Facebook would change that. (For the record, I'm not decided either way on whether breaking them up is the right way to resolve the problems that Facebook causes.)

by ng12 7y ago

happytoexplain 7y ago

Isn't she also targeting Comcast? I know she's made similar criticisms of them, but maybe I'm just assuming that means she wants to go after them explicitly.

ng12 7y ago
The most recent article I can find on the issue is from 2016. She's definitely cooled it on Comcast/Verizon since.
- happytoexplain 7y ago
  That's unfortunate - I agree ISPs would be a more poplar target on both sides of the aisle.

hello_friendos 7y ago

Where did she say she would ban technology. Splitting up a company that has become too large is a good thing for competition.

supercanuck 7y ago

Because it is affecting how people in the United States consume information and that is affecting the functioning of our democracy

js2 7y ago

See the "A Public Option for Broadband" section here: https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/invest-rural https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/invest-rural

vbtemp 7y ago
I wonder if she (or her staffers) actually think with a straight face that this is actually a thing that many people care about? It seems marketed for coastal elites who are being patronizing towards rural americans. They knew what they're doing and what they're voting for - (anti)immigration, culture war, agricultural subsidies carry far more weight than elitist plans like this.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- untog 7y ago
  Are you sure you're not being patronizing towards rural communities yourself by presuming that they are not interested in fast internet access? Not to mention presuming their views on things like immigration (farms hire a lot of immigrants)
- eli_gottlieb 7y ago
  One of my best friends works a remote software engineering job in a relatively rural area. He needs fast internet.

drblast 7y ago

This is the primary. Democrats will be gung-ho on things that they think will win the primary then race to the center in the general election. Either that, or they'll stupidly alienate over half of all voters by standing firm on losing issues again and again and hand Trump the victory. I'm not Nate Silver, but I think it's 50/50 shot of either of these being true.

monocasa 7y ago

Both sides of the political spectrum are pissed at Facebook at least. Both the far left and far right feel like they're being silenced, and politicians have to be special cased in Facebook's system apparently in order to not get auto takedowns, and they still sometimes run afowl. Will breaking Facebook up have any benefit? Probably not, but there's bipartisan support for doing something.

JohnFen 7y ago
> Both the far left and far right feel like they're being silenced I'm in the group of people who thinks that Facebook is a huge problem, but I don't think the problem is that they're silencing anybody, left or right.

skyyler 7y ago

What makes you say that tech is one of the last true paths to the middle class?

twright 7y ago
I think what they mean is that it's generally a very well paid field (with decent benefits) and that the barrier to entry is not incredibly high.
- mruts 7y ago
  Sure it is. Most people I know could never, ever, cut it as a developer. Most people are just too stupid. And most developers are pretty stupid as well, so that’s saying something.
ng12 7y ago
Because a bachelor's degree in CS from a state school can very realistically be the key to a six-figure salary. Most other "white color" professions either require significantly more schooling or have dimmer job prospects.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

czinck 7y ago

It's a very popular issue with the average voter, >60% approve and 20% are unsure. And it seems to be popular across party/ideological lines. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/18/20870938/break-up-big-tech-google-facebook-amazon-poll https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/9/18/20870938/b...

yourbandsucks 7y ago
Yup. And honestly, everyone outside of the valley wants to take the valley down a notch. They're easier to hate than Wall Street, even. Seems like a slam dunk for popularity.
untog 7y ago
She just tweeted: "Imagine Facebook and Instagram trying to outdo each other to protect your privacy and keep misinformation out of your feed, instead of working together to sell your data, inundate you with misinformation, and undermine our election security. That's why we need to #BreakUpBigTech." https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179118108633636865 https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1179118108633636865 It isn't too difficult to articulate why the average voter might be interested in it.
- ng12 7y ago
  > Imagine Facebook and Instagram trying to outdo each other to protect your privacy and keep misinformation out of your feed This feels like an unrealistic fantasy. If it hasn't been the case for FB vs Twitter vs Snap, what makes her think adding IG back into the mix will?
  - untog 7y ago
    Twitter and Snap have never meaningfully competed with Facebook in terms of market share. Probably one of the reasons FB didn't acquire them, too.
    - mruts 7y ago

ajross 7y ago

> popular issue with the average voter She's running in a primary election. "Build the wall" never crossed 50% in a general poll either, but it was still a winning argument.

untog 7y ago

> tech is one of the last true paths to the middle class Americans have left 1. is that really true? I don't see it myself. 2. splitting up Facebook would not suddenly mean there are no jobs in tech. If anything it might mean there are more, as there would be great competition.

AllanHoustonSt 7y ago
Out of the popular/common white collar jobs that can help someone push oneself out of the lower middle class rut which include medicine, law, banking, software, etc I'd certainly say software has the lowest barrier for entry and highest ROI wrt education/time/financial cost. I wouldn't be surprised if the median household income for kids entering medicine/law/banking are well above those studying cs.
ng12 7y ago
It's one of the few fields where a bachelor's degree from a state school can pretty easily lead to a six-figure salary.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  Yes, but I also don't see how breaking up Facebook would change that. (For the record, I'm not decided either way on whether breaking them up is the right way to resolve the problems that Facebook causes.)