3 ms·

From where I'm standing I don't see any diversity of perspectives. I see a group of people who all generally believe that: * IP laws should me maximized to pro

From where I'm standing I don't see any diversity of perspectives. I see a group of people who all generally believe that: * IP laws should me maximized to protect the "owners" * consumer protection laws should be minimized to remove corporate responsibility * taxes should be minimal * worker protections should be almost non-existent Basically libertarianism or "fuck you, got mine".

imtringued 5y ago
Also, many of them are trying to create land dynasties. Bill gates is buying farmland.
pjscott 5y ago
As an example of diversity of approaches, look at the Fast Grants program: https://future.a16z.com/what-we-learned-doing-fast-grants/ https://future.a16z.com/what-we-learned-doing-fast-grants/ It was created in 2020 to give grants for COVID-related research. Its big selling point was that it would give out money fast: very little paperwork to fill out, and yes/no decisions made within 48 hours. They were surprised to discover that even researchers at top universities were having a hard time getting funding out of the usual institutions like the NIH, which were adapting very slowly to the pandemic. They seem to have done very well in speeding up research, at least with the amount of money they had, just by giving out the funding in a way that few-to-none of the existing institutions would.
gojomo 5y ago
I dont see much of your bullet-item beliefs from billionaires like: * Winfrey * Dorsey * Soros * Steyer * Benioff * Bloomberg * Simons * Sussman * Pritzker * Buffett * Scott * Omidyar * Williams * Kardashian * Lucas A few of them support IP protections, at least at current levels supporting their sources-of-wealth, but not your other examples. (And whether they support IP any more than the average voter, or union-member, is unclear.) Maybe partisanship "from where [you're] standing" is blinding you to the social & political programs of many billionaires?
dragontamer 5y ago
Warren Buffett is clearly a pro-taxes billionaire, among many others. But Buffet is probably the most popular / richest one of them? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule > The Buffett Rule is named after American investor Warren Buffett, who publicly stated in early 2011 that he believed it was wrong that rich people, like himself, could pay less in federal taxes, as a portion of income, than the middle class, and voiced support for increased income taxes on the wealthy.

imtringued 5y ago

Also, many of them are trying to create land dynasties. Bill gates is buying farmland.

pjscott 5y ago

As an example of diversity of approaches, look at the Fast Grants program: https://future.a16z.com/what-we-learned-doing-fast-grants/ https://future.a16z.com/what-we-learned-doing-fast-grants/ It was created in 2020 to give grants for COVID-related research. Its big selling point was that it would give out money fast: very little paperwork to fill out, and yes/no decisions made within 48 hours. They were surprised to discover that even researchers at top universities were having a hard time getting funding out of the usual institutions like the NIH, which were adapting very slowly to the pandemic. They seem to have done very well in speeding up research, at least with the amount of money they had, just by giving out the funding in a way that few-to-none of the existing institutions would.

gojomo 5y ago

I dont see much of your bullet-item beliefs from billionaires like: * Winfrey * Dorsey * Soros * Steyer * Benioff * Bloomberg * Simons * Sussman * Pritzker * Buffett * Scott * Omidyar * Williams * Kardashian * Lucas A few of them support IP protections, at least at current levels supporting their sources-of-wealth, but not your other examples. (And whether they support IP any more than the average voter, or union-member, is unclear.) Maybe partisanship "from where [you're] standing" is blinding you to the social & political programs of many billionaires?

dragontamer 5y ago

Warren Buffett is clearly a pro-taxes billionaire, among many others. But Buffet is probably the most popular / richest one of them? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule > The Buffett Rule is named after American investor Warren Buffett, who publicly stated in early 2011 that he believed it was wrong that rich people, like himself, could pay less in federal taxes, as a portion of income, than the middle class, and voiced support for increased income taxes on the wealthy.