3 ms·

What’s the difference between a king and a Bezos now?

• inglor_cz 5y ago
  People quit employment at Bezos' companies all the time. Just today an important figure at Blue Origin decided to leave and switch to another space startup. That would be much harder in feudalism. Not outright impossible - if they were bored with you, they wouldn't object - but if the king wanted to keep you, it would be risky to defy him. One of the reasons why Late Medieval and Renaissance Italy was such a hotbed of intellectual activity was that local nobles had only very limited reach. If you got into conflict with one prince, you could move 20 miles away and be under protection of somebody else. And that could be done almost overnight.
  • rapind 5y ago
    Absolutely correct. My comment was tongue in cheek, which in retrospect doesn't really belong on HN.