3 ms·

I'm not sure the kind of power you're referring to is the same kind of power that say, the Pope has. Gates with his billions has massive amounts of power in bus

by leak 15y ago

I'm not sure the kind of power you're referring to is the same kind of power that say, the Pope has. Gates with his billions has massive amounts of power in business and maybe local politics but he is nowhere near the level as say the Pope, who is by definition poor. All the money (and power associated with it) cannot end world hunger. Ever. So I understand what Gates is saying when he's referring to the hamburger. He probably doesn't have the kind of power you are imagining he has and that 1000x doesn't really mean anything. All you can do with money is acquire more money in different forms. You're not changing the world with money. I never comment on here so be gentle please. :)

redthrowaway 15y ago
I'm a bit loathe to give this response as I come here to get away from politics, but look at how Koch Industries and the like subverted the tea party movement, and the effect that that's had on congress. That's the kind of power money buys: the power to take a small, libertarian grass-roots organization and turn it into a nation-wide astroturfed phenomenon, getting dozens of congressmen elected in the process and having a huge impact on government policy. $60m doesn't buy you that kind of power, but $10b does. This is what the parent was saying, and what Gates doesn't think about because he clearly never tried to use his money to exert that kind of power (the courts might have been nicer to him if he had). The tech industry in general seems reluctant to use its vast wealth to exert that kind of power. If they had spent half the money they did in the patent wars on lobbyists, we likely wouldn't have the e-parasite act and its similarly harmful brethren. That's just not how we think, however, and so much smaller industries end up exerting a huge amount of power.

3 ms·

I'm not sure the kind of power you're referring to is the same kind of power that say, the Pope has. Gates with his billions has massive amounts of power in bus

by leak 15y ago

redthrowaway 15y ago
I'm a bit loathe to give this response as I come here to get away from politics, but look at how Koch Industries and the like subverted the tea party movement, and the effect that that's had on congress. That's the kind of power money buys: the power to take a small, libertarian grass-roots organization and turn it into a nation-wide astroturfed phenomenon, getting dozens of congressmen elected in the process and having a huge impact on government policy. $60m doesn't buy you that kind of power, but $10b does. This is what the parent was saying, and what Gates doesn't think about because he clearly never tried to use his money to exert that kind of power (the courts might have been nicer to him if he had). The tech industry in general seems reluctant to use its vast wealth to exert that kind of power. If they had spent half the money they did in the patent wars on lobbyists, we likely wouldn't have the e-parasite act and its similarly harmful brethren. That's just not how we think, however, and so much smaller industries end up exerting a huge amount of power.