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>> From regulatory capture through revolving doors and lobbying, to media capture through purchase, and now academic capture through donation, it seems no activ
by tivert 3y ago
>> From regulatory capture through revolving doors and lobbying, to media capture through purchase, and now academic capture through donation, it seems no activity is safe from large concentrations of wealth.
> And it never will be. This is a human problem. No amount of laws and regulations will ever solve it.
Come on. Wealth is literally a creature of "law and regulations," and changes to them can definitely "solve it." That's trivially shown by the through a thought experiment where we imagine legal changes that lead to Zuckerberg having his wealth confiscated and Facebook being placed under the control of some person or entity who is not its ally and is not allowed to profit from it.
I think I need to make extra-clear that my example is an extreme one to clearly disprove your point, not the only regulatory option available or a policy proposal. Don't get distracted by irrelevant details.
Defeatist memes like what you said circulate widely to encourage paralysis, but they're propaganda or its derivatives, not truth.
- whelp_24 3y agoWe shouldn't sit on our hands or whatever but wealth isn't a creation of laws, it's a bit of the inverse. Some laws can remove wealth and some laws are gonna take a lotta of guns and manpower (resources ==wealth) to implement.
- istjohn 3y agoWithout laws, you have anarchy. Laws create the institutions necessary to have an economy capable of creating wealth.
- sobkas 3y ago> Without laws, you have anarchy. Laws create the institutions necessary to have an economy capable of creating wealth. Without laws you don't have anarchy, you just have rule of strongest. Anarchy can have laws but no authority that enforces them.
- seanw444 3y agoIf we moved into a world without government and laws, it'd be replaced by a sort of modernized feudalism. Not anarchy.
- tivert 3y ago> We shouldn't sit on our hands or whatever but wealth isn't a creation of laws, it's a bit of the inverse. Huh? Maybe in the deep, deep past; but definitely not now. Even back then, where there were no states and little social organization, there was still custom within groups that worked like law. > Some laws can remove wealth and some laws are gonna take a lotta of guns and manpower (resources ==wealth) to implement. Zuckerberg and Facebook have no army and no means to raise one, despite the wealth they have. They are totally, utterly at the mercy of laws and regulations.
- UncleMeat 3y agoMark Zuckerburg's wealth is absolutely a creation of laws. Almost all of his wealth comes from his ownership of a corporation. The corporation only exists because of laws. It is only a sale-able asset because of laws.
- claytongulick 3y agoI interpret GP's comment to mean "No amount of reasonable/effective laws and regulations will ever solve it". Clearly there are plenty of extreme "solutions". I interpret GP's point being an attempt to provide their insight into human condition, which is an interesting one. Is graft a necessary condition of human civilization?