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This mindset is born out of seeing how the game is played and where the money goes from past initiatives. Why would this one be in any way different? To quote
by rapsey 6y ago
This mindset is born out of seeing how the game is played and where the money goes from past initiatives. Why would this one be in any way different?
To quote a very rich and slimey asshole I’ve interacted with who’s income is largely from such initiatives. It’s just money for papers.
- yulaow 6y agoAlmost any "federal government" branch in any national or transnational entity works that way. They still get results good enough to push technology forward by encouraging parallel private investments. I mean the whole USA tech sector was basically bootstrapped by federal money/grants/investments given in no different way of what EU is doing right now.
- TeMPOraL 6y agoAnd even earlier, in chemical and advanced manufacturing space - just how many of the well-known US companies started as small shops that got their hands on government grants during WWII?
- cinquemb 6y ago> … government grants during WWII Seems like we're missing some "proper" motivation/focus/constraints now like war on this scale can provide… not just the EU, but this kind of diktat-innovation is increasingly more present everywhere… Probably goes hand in hand with the ever present bailout olympics for those deemed TBTF…
- TeMPOraL 6y agoI used to believe the "proper motivation" - like winning the war - mattered. Then I read "War Is a Racket", a 1935 short book by US general Smedley Darlington Butler, which in many places argues that even during an active war, companies will happily steal and squander the war funding. So now I'm not sure how much you can expect from such motivation. Probably it's best to assume that some amount of graft will always happen, just dump the money, and hope something good comes out of it...
- cinquemb 6y agoWell i'm not sure gunboat diplomacy and banana/global policing wars provide sufficient motivation compared to total wars… can only steal and squander so much before your factories get bombed and supply chains crippled. I would agree if only the money dumps stopped ending up going mostly in the same places… lol
- LudwigNagasena 6y ago> USA tech sector was basically bootstrapped by federal money/grants/investments given in no different way of what EU is doing right now There are MANY different ways to channel money into business or non-profit R&D. I doubt you can ignore all the differences and declare that what the US and the EU do or did is the same. I am not saying it doesn’t exist, but I am personally not aware of any similar multibillion declaration made by the US.
- rhn_mk1 6y agoWhy don't you instead quote a source that proves that it's a pointless giveaway? Without it, your post seems like mud slinging.
- vincnetas 6y agoAsk for transparency and report slimey assholes. If you want the change, be the change.
- rapsey 6y agoYeah sure lemme go against a guy with half the government in his pocket. Life is not a movie.
- makomk 6y agoReporting corruption only works if there's someone to report it to who has both the power and the political will to actually do something about it. That simply does not exist within the EU as an institution. I don't think it's possible to easily explain exactly what's wrong with the EU's accountability and anti-corruption structures; endless column inches have been spent on the problems, mostly in somewhat niche publications and read mainly by people deeply interested in EU politics. (Which may also be part of the problem. Even before Brexit, few cared, and the political polarization around Brexit has pushed the idea that the EU has structural problems outside the realm of mainstream discourse. Take a look at the comments in this HN discussion for example!)