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For someone from outside the US this is an insane read. Private companies paying for government employee saleries? The government agencies even looking for priv
by cycomanic 5y ago
For someone from outside the US this is an insane read. Private companies paying for government employee saleries? The government agencies even looking for private funding for employees? How can that not raise all sorts of crazy ethical alarm bells?!
To me it also illustrates why people should never be able to become this wealthy. If they really are interested in the government having adequate funding to pursue what is important they would pay adequate taxes (and push for tax reform so this affects everyone) and not use their wealth to push very specific agendas that that mix personal, financial interest with social agendas (which they probably say is their only interest). It destroys the whole notion of democracy. So even if they are only interested in the "good for the country" it is specifically not the good as determined by the democratic process. Instead their circumvent the democratic process (using the immense wealth) to push their own notion.
As a side note, why is the Biden administration deputy CTO a former lawyer?
- spaetzleesser 5y ago"Private companies paying for government employee saleries? The government agencies even looking for private funding for employees? How can that not raise all sorts of crazy ethical alarm bells?!" It gets even better: Facebook financed the 2020 election in some counties: https://www.npr.org/2020/12/08/943242106/how-private-money-from-facebooks-ceo-saved-the-2020-election https://www.npr.org/2020/12/08/943242106/how-private-money-f...
- cycomanic 5y ago... I'm lost for words. The crazyness about this is not so much that they got money from Zuckerberg, but that they had to look for it! I'm showing my lack of knowledge about the US political system now, but did the founding fathers not provision somehow that the elections as the central element of the democratic process must have guaranteed adequate funding, without influence from any other government entity?
- cdash 5y agoElections were left up to the states to figure out.
- snake_doc 5y agoThe US is a republic of 50 states, a federal district (capital), and other territories. Otherwise known as a federation where states dictate their individual representation at the federation. States can do as they please from that regards, mostly.
- spaetzleesser 5y agoOne thing is that elections are up to the states to organize as they see fit. The other thing is that US politics has reached a point where the political parties care only about winning. They don't care about functioning institutions.
- programmarchy 5y agoThis is an aspect of liberalism not democracy. It seems paradoxical until you realize liberalism is anti-democratic. The original intent of liberalism was to protect the private interests of the land-owning class, who were and are a small minority, although now any minority can buy into the franchise. The majority is openly hated, and the resentments of the minority against the majority is cloaked in language about love and democracy.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- wrycoder 5y agoIt's like regulatory capture on steroids.
- walterbell 5y ago> For someone from outside the US this is an insane read ... It destroys the whole notion of democracy. So even if they are only interested in the "good for the country" it is specifically not the good as determined by the democratic process. Instead they circumvent the democratic process (using the immense wealth) to push their own notion. In fields where US tech industry precedent can influence non-US markets, there is the potential for even higher returns on lobbying investment.
- tomcam 5y ago> To me it also illustrates why people should never be able to become this wealthy. What’s the maximum level of wealth allowed in your ideal world?