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> Now that today's testimony is over, I wanted to reflect on the public debate we're in. I'm sure many of you have found the recent coverage hard to read becaus

by titzer 5y ago

> Now that today's testimony is over, I wanted to reflect on the public debate we're in. I'm sure many of you have found the recent coverage hard to read because it just doesn't reflect the company we know. Yeah, we know you don't know, because you're looking at it from on top of a mountain of 100 billion dollars, Mark. There isn't a single damned thing that can change your picture of it being the absolute greatest thing ever. > We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. What you care about, and what you say you care about, are nothing compared to your actions. > It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives. We don't know your motives, other than the obvious ones. We know your actions. > At the most basic level, I think most of us just don't recognize the false picture of the company that is being painted. That's because you live in a big dumb bubble where chat apps are somehow world-changing innovations and creepy stalker behavior is completely fine to you. You are out of touch and people are screaming it at you. You think you are entitled to encroach on everyone's private lives, intermediate on every interaction and mine it for vulnerabilities to auction off to advertisers. Your entire model of the world is broken, Mark. No wonder nothing makes sense. Stopped reading after this point. I'm sick of billionaires with megaphones blaring their virtues.

kumarvvr 5y ago
> I'm sick of billionaires with megaphones blaring their virtues As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. I vomit in my mouth when I see videos of people showing currency, of people talking to you about "doing the hustle", etc etc. US has fallen into an abyss of moral decline, where the value of your words are directly proportional to the amount of wealth you have managed to gather, no matter the means.
- saulpw 5y ago
  Worthington's Law in action. More Money == Better Than.
- Ansil849 5y ago
  > As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. When has this not been the case? Politicians in America are traditionally wealthy people.
  - asdff 5y ago
    Most of the presidents from the last century were not born into wealth.
    - Ansil849 5y ago
      > Most of the presidents from the last century were not born into wealth. Whether or not they were born into wealth is irrelevant to my claim, which is: > Politicians in America are traditionally wealthy people. Of the 17 presidents from the last century, only three (and just nine total) are listed as having a net worth of less than one million: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit... America is a country ruled by the wealthy. Both by wealthy politicians and wealthy corporations.
      - haser_au 5y ago
        > Of the 17 presidents from the last century, only three (and just nine total) are listed as having a net worth of less than one million You might want to quote the sentence at the top of the Wikipedia table in your link, that says this is their "peak net worth" and "may occur after that president has left office". Read through the list in the link below. McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Obama and Biden can't be considered to have been born into families of wealth. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-worth-of-the-american-presidents-washington-to-trump/114599966/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-wort... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Early_life_(1942%E2%80%931965) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Early_life_(1942%E2%...
        5y ago
- sircastor 5y ago
  I appreciate what you’re saying and agree with you, but I’m not confident that the US was ever not “whatever rich people shout out”.
  - gremIin 5y ago
    Sure women couldn't vote and black people didn't have civil rights, but at least people were modest!
- freeflight 5y ago
  > As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. Nothing exemplifies this as much as the whole situation surrounding public transport in the US. A topic that's generally scoffed at "Everybody has a car, why would the US need a high-speed rail network?!" At least until some billionaire presents his newest "innovation" by putting people in some pipe or another and allegedly making them go 600+ mph with magic inertia dampeners, then everybody loses their their collective poop about this amazing idea, by that amazing entrepreneur! Then they end up with a bunch of cars being driven trough a tunnel, still no high-speed rail, but can't wait to chase after the next billionaire promising them to shoot people trough tubes at deadly speeds. Would be excellent satire if it wasn't actual reality.
panaffa 5y ago
So agree. Comes off as super cringe. Silicon Valley has lost amy moral high ground from the early days and should act like any other corporate... "its not illegal and it would lose us money to change, why would we change it?" That would be honest, logical and frankly refreshing
- antiSingularity 5y ago
  Sorry, what "moral high ground" did it ever have? SV is just a place for smart people to create interesting new toys, and has developed an incredibly predatory and monopolistic VC-funded business practice in the process. For some reason, its inhabitants have determined that this makes them morally superior to everyone else.
MobileVet 5y ago
> Your entire model of the world is broken, Mark. No wonder nothing makes sense. +100 This has been the consistent picture of Mark from the very beginning of Facebook. ‘Stupid fs gave me their info’ As titzer said, the actions speak louder than the words and Mark’s actions over the years have never varied from their hyper focus.
dbbk 5y ago
If you kept reading you would see the points he makes where he outlines exactly where their actions match up with their intentions.
sgregnt 5y ago
I believe Zuck became billionaire for creating value for people. For creating something from nothing. So if he has 100 billion, it's just a tiny fraction of the value the society got from him in return. I wish there were more people like Zuck, Elon musk etc.. these are the people that advance society. I read so much hatred towards rich people here instead of praising them, it somehow gives me the chills to know there so many people around me that are full of baseless hatred to the point that they are "sick".

by titzer 5y ago

kumarvvr 5y ago

> I'm sick of billionaires with megaphones blaring their virtues As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. I vomit in my mouth when I see videos of people showing currency, of people talking to you about "doing the hustle", etc etc. US has fallen into an abyss of moral decline, where the value of your words are directly proportional to the amount of wealth you have managed to gather, no matter the means.

saulpw 5y ago
Worthington's Law in action. More Money == Better Than.
Ansil849 5y ago
> As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. When has this not been the case? Politicians in America are traditionally wealthy people.
- asdff 5y ago
  Most of the presidents from the last century were not born into wealth.
  - Ansil849 5y ago
    > Most of the presidents from the last century were not born into wealth. Whether or not they were born into wealth is irrelevant to my claim, which is: > Politicians in America are traditionally wealthy people. Of the 17 presidents from the last century, only three (and just nine total) are listed as having a net worth of less than one million: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_United_States_by_net_worth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_presidents_of_the_Unit... America is a country ruled by the wealthy. Both by wealthy politicians and wealthy corporations.
    - haser_au 5y ago
      > Of the 17 presidents from the last century, only three (and just nine total) are listed as having a net worth of less than one million You might want to quote the sentence at the top of the Wikipedia table in your link, that says this is their "peak net worth" and "may occur after that president has left office". Read through the list in the link below. McKinley, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Obama and Biden can't be considered to have been born into families of wealth. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-worth-of-the-american-presidents-washington-to-trump/114599966/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-wort... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Early_life_(1942%E2%80%931965) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden#Early_life_(1942%E2%...
      - 5y ago
sircastor 5y ago
I appreciate what you’re saying and agree with you, but I’m not confident that the US was ever not “whatever rich people shout out”.
- gremIin 5y ago
  Sure women couldn't vote and black people didn't have civil rights, but at least people were modest!
freeflight 5y ago
> As a society, the US has shifted its values from intellectually sound principles, to what ever rich people shout out. Nothing exemplifies this as much as the whole situation surrounding public transport in the US. A topic that's generally scoffed at "Everybody has a car, why would the US need a high-speed rail network?!" At least until some billionaire presents his newest "innovation" by putting people in some pipe or another and allegedly making them go 600+ mph with magic inertia dampeners, then everybody loses their their collective poop about this amazing idea, by that amazing entrepreneur! Then they end up with a bunch of cars being driven trough a tunnel, still no high-speed rail, but can't wait to chase after the next billionaire promising them to shoot people trough tubes at deadly speeds. Would be excellent satire if it wasn't actual reality.

panaffa 5y ago

So agree. Comes off as super cringe. Silicon Valley has lost amy moral high ground from the early days and should act like any other corporate... "its not illegal and it would lose us money to change, why would we change it?" That would be honest, logical and frankly refreshing

antiSingularity 5y ago
Sorry, what "moral high ground" did it ever have? SV is just a place for smart people to create interesting new toys, and has developed an incredibly predatory and monopolistic VC-funded business practice in the process. For some reason, its inhabitants have determined that this makes them morally superior to everyone else.

MobileVet 5y ago

> Your entire model of the world is broken, Mark. No wonder nothing makes sense. +100 This has been the consistent picture of Mark from the very beginning of Facebook. ‘Stupid fs gave me their info’ As titzer said, the actions speak louder than the words and Mark’s actions over the years have never varied from their hyper focus.

dbbk 5y ago

If you kept reading you would see the points he makes where he outlines exactly where their actions match up with their intentions.

sgregnt 5y ago

I believe Zuck became billionaire for creating value for people. For creating something from nothing. So if he has 100 billion, it's just a tiny fraction of the value the society got from him in return. I wish there were more people like Zuck, Elon musk etc.. these are the people that advance society. I read so much hatred towards rich people here instead of praising them, it somehow gives me the chills to know there so many people around me that are full of baseless hatred to the point that they are "sick".