3 ms·

Like who? Most of the oligarchs aren’t so much risk takers as they were friends with the right people at the right time and so got to buy state industry for pen

by tjs8rj 4y ago

Like who? Most of the oligarchs aren’t so much risk takers as they were friends with the right people at the right time and so got to buy state industry for pennies on the dollar

ipaddr 4y ago
When every citizen in Russia was given shares of these properties most saw them as worthless and sold them. The ones who collected and gathered enough to take over control did. Not really gifts from the right people...
- ProjectArcturis 4y ago
  Think about that for 2 seconds. If everyone else had to sell their shares because they were desperately poor, where did the oligarchs get the capital to buy all the shares? Do you really think they were just average folks who made good stock trades? Buying shares is not, by the way, how most oligarchs made their money. Rigged auctions and embezzlement were far more common.
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    Having capital or access to resources is different than some government power handing companies over. Many with resources didn't risk those to try to obtain shares. No one said it was an even playing field but opportunity existed. Many were selling drugs when it was illegal and picked up valuable skills that can be used to leap over others who didn't take the risk. This is not an even playing field either. Facebook asked you for your hotmail password and emailed all of your friends. No one can do that now. Fortune favours the bold and punishes the copycat
    - yywwbbn 4y ago
      > Fortune favours the bold Or rather corrupt politicians, oligarchs & murderers. At least according to your USSR example. > Many were selling drugs when it was illegal and picked up valuable skills that can be used to leap over others who didn't take the risk I seriously doubt most of those skills are really transferable to the post legalization market in any meaningful way…
      - fragmede 4y ago
        There’s obviously a ton of skill carryover on the farming of it - regardless of the legal status, the skills/knowledge required to grow it doesn’t really change. It’s still the same plant, after all. If that’s true, why does it seem ludicrous to suggest there aren’t other skills to transfer over? Some of the customer base is even still the same people.
        yywwbbn 4y ago
        I’m not sure if growing is the hard part, however even here I would expect most people who have professional experience in legal agriculture to be better at it than underground pot growers. Is growing weed really that different than tomatoes or avocados? The conditions and constraints for legal growers are very different. Even more so if we consider distribution and retail.
        ipaddr 4y ago
        Then you go into selling. Superior product knowledge, personal usage provides additional context to buyer. Understanding common language terms, history and they provide an authentic point of view. The distribution side is easier under legalization but experience provides additional benefits. The storage, handling and processing are separate skills that take awhile to learn. Growing avocados is very different compared to growing tomatoes and it is different than growing grapes for ice wine. Can someone who grows tomatoes become a great wine maker? They can and have a better chance compared to the average person but those skills don't translate one to one. I would prefer to hire someone who made wine before over tomato grower because there is a learning curve.
        yywwbbn 4y ago
        Maybe you’re right. I just assumed that people producing and selling illegal drugs dedicated most of their time in solving problems which wouldn’t exist in a legal environment. > The storage, handling and processing are separate skills that take awhile to learn. Right, I would assume the most important skill here would be doing all of this without being detected by the police. E.g. you might loss X% of you stash due to spoilage once in a while but you’d still come out ahead over someone who takes much more care over his product but get’s caught.

by tjs8rj 4y ago

Like who? Most of the oligarchs aren’t so much risk takers as they were friends with the right people at the right time and so got to buy state industry for pennies on the dollar

ipaddr 4y ago

When every citizen in Russia was given shares of these properties most saw them as worthless and sold them. The ones who collected and gathered enough to take over control did. Not really gifts from the right people...

ProjectArcturis 4y ago
Think about that for 2 seconds. If everyone else had to sell their shares because they were desperately poor, where did the oligarchs get the capital to buy all the shares? Do you really think they were just average folks who made good stock trades? Buying shares is not, by the way, how most oligarchs made their money. Rigged auctions and embezzlement were far more common.
- ipaddr 4y ago
  Having capital or access to resources is different than some government power handing companies over. Many with resources didn't risk those to try to obtain shares. No one said it was an even playing field but opportunity existed. Many were selling drugs when it was illegal and picked up valuable skills that can be used to leap over others who didn't take the risk. This is not an even playing field either. Facebook asked you for your hotmail password and emailed all of your friends. No one can do that now. Fortune favours the bold and punishes the copycat
  - yywwbbn 4y ago
    > Fortune favours the bold Or rather corrupt politicians, oligarchs & murderers. At least according to your USSR example. > Many were selling drugs when it was illegal and picked up valuable skills that can be used to leap over others who didn't take the risk I seriously doubt most of those skills are really transferable to the post legalization market in any meaningful way…
    - fragmede 4y ago
      There’s obviously a ton of skill carryover on the farming of it - regardless of the legal status, the skills/knowledge required to grow it doesn’t really change. It’s still the same plant, after all. If that’s true, why does it seem ludicrous to suggest there aren’t other skills to transfer over? Some of the customer base is even still the same people.
      - yywwbbn 4y ago
        I’m not sure if growing is the hard part, however even here I would expect most people who have professional experience in legal agriculture to be better at it than underground pot growers. Is growing weed really that different than tomatoes or avocados? The conditions and constraints for legal growers are very different. Even more so if we consider distribution and retail.
        ipaddr 4y ago
        Then you go into selling. Superior product knowledge, personal usage provides additional context to buyer. Understanding common language terms, history and they provide an authentic point of view. The distribution side is easier under legalization but experience provides additional benefits. The storage, handling and processing are separate skills that take awhile to learn. Growing avocados is very different compared to growing tomatoes and it is different than growing grapes for ice wine. Can someone who grows tomatoes become a great wine maker? They can and have a better chance compared to the average person but those skills don't translate one to one. I would prefer to hire someone who made wine before over tomato grower because there is a learning curve.
        yywwbbn 4y ago
        Maybe you’re right. I just assumed that people producing and selling illegal drugs dedicated most of their time in solving problems which wouldn’t exist in a legal environment. > The storage, handling and processing are separate skills that take awhile to learn. Right, I would assume the most important skill here would be doing all of this without being detected by the police. E.g. you might loss X% of you stash due to spoilage once in a while but you’d still come out ahead over someone who takes much more care over his product but get’s caught.