4 ms·
When you set an arbitrary cap like "GDP of all African countries" lots of people will argue it's too high, or too low, and you won't have any argument to make b
by zulban 2y ago
When you set an arbitrary cap like "GDP of all African countries" lots of people will argue it's too high, or too low, and you won't have any argument to make because it's arbitrary.
Your solution sounds great but in practice it's simplistic.
- thiagoharry 2y agoI agree that the solution is unrealistical. But not for this reason: the "no limit" is also arbitrary and people do not agree if this is right. Moreover, lots of people do not agree with regulations and norms in society, but society creates these things and people learn to comply to live in society.
- swores 2y agoIsn't that true for many if not most laws? We don't not have taxes just because lots of people will argue they're too high or too low, we don't not have a criminal justice system because people will argue sentences are too harsh or too lenient. Instead, for things deemed worth having as law, we try to set the rules at levels that as many people as possible find as reasonable as possible (albeit in an imperfect way because there's indeed no way to get universal agreement on anything, and because not everyone acts in good faith when choosing, and because money influences politics too much, and all the other reasons why democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others).
- raincole 2y agoLegal age of drinking is arbitrary and people accept it. Hell, even legal age of consent is arbitrary (please don't argue this -- if it's not it won't vary across developed countries). The absolute majority of legal lines we drew are arbitrary.
- cyanmagenta 2y agoI think it’d be more accurate to say “imprecise” rather than “arbitrary.” For example, the legal drinking age is set to 21 (or whatever) based on politicians’ estimation of when most people are mature enough to handle the consequences. It’s true that there is no way to exactly specify a perfect age limit, but that doesn’t mean the limit was set randomly without any reason or basis, i.e., arbitrarily. Sorry if I’m being too pedantic; it’s just one of those nights I suppose.
- Dylan16807 2y agoIf that's your definition of arbitrary versus imprecise then a company size limit is also imprecise.
- kortilla 2y ago> estimation of when most people are mature enough to handle the consequences. This is bullshit. 18 is when consequences start, because that’s when you’re treated as an adult by the legal system.
- lostlogin 2y ago> Legal age of drinking is arbitrary and people accept it. Do they? I thought it was ignored everywhere.
- behringer 2y agoThe solution is much simpler than all that. Just make the idea of the public corporation illegal.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ben_w 2y agoFor every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong. Corporations are necessary for specialisation, e.g. even knowing what your legal liability is, having someone to enforce health and safety rules, being able to run a production line rather than having one person spend about a year making a single car. We can't get most of the interesting things we see in developed economies just by sole traders hiring someone directly for each thing without a corporate structure, partly because that too is a specialisation, and partly because that's way too fragile (every such thing either has a bus number of 1, or it's a mediocre reinvention of a corporation).
- behringer 2y agoAnd yet out planet will be destroyed, the rich are richer than ever off of the hard work of the poor. The corporation cares not about humanity or the rule of law, but yet we treat it as a person. I would challenge you that these "miracles" of the corporation will doom is all.
- ben_w 2y ago> And yet out planet will be destroyed, Physically disassembled in its entirety by a paperclip maximiser. > the rich are richer than ever off of the hard work of the poor. And the poor are, too. The natural state of our species: https://youtube.com/@primitivetechnology9550?si=xUTMUkTdB3oTR9uW https://youtube.com/@primitivetechnology9550?si=xUTMUkTdB3oT... > The corporation cares not about humanity or the rule of law, but yet we treat it as a person. A legal fiction, but not exactly identical. Countries too, "L'État, c'est moi" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'%C3%89tat%252C_c'est_moi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'%C3%89tat%252C_c'est_moi > I would challenge you that these "miracles" of the corporation will doom is all. Could be. There's a reason we don't see aliens in the sky. A the same time the "miracle" of collective action that you want to get rid of — because everything corporations do wrong is also done by other kinds of co-operations — isn't really just corporations, it's everything that makes us primates. That's why you need to be more precise than "just ban them all", why the simple and obvious solution is wrong.
- sumedh 2y ago> When you set an arbitrary cap You can join the US military at 17, why this arbitrary number, why not 16, why not 20?
- bitnasty 2y agoThat’s not what arbitrary means. The age is set as low as possible while still being reasonable as to not send kids to war. Maybe the distinction between the ages 16-17 and 17-18 seems “arbitrary” but there is a reason the age is 17 and not 71. Hence, not arbitrary.
- iraqmtpizza 2y agoIf the orbit of the earth were slightly smaller then the enlistment age would be lower. That's not arbitrary?
- wpm 2y agoWow, I can’t be believe an off hand HN comment might not actually be comprehensive political policy, gee whiz!
- ganzuul 2y agoIf the value of "GDP of all African countries" is a numerical value then it is simplistic. If the value is informed by the functions which result in such numbers then it is perhaps too complicated. If the parent has lots of experience with African economies then the value might be a distillation of the latter complicated ensemble of functions into something very meaningful.
- EasyMark 2y agoThat's why compromise happens. It's clearly superior to "let this company grow to an unlimited size, have all the power in the market, and tell customers to go pound sand because we're too big to fail". It would be a great start to set a cap or market percentage (assuming the market is huge, which obviously online marketing is).