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When a business bets itself on a bold gamble, with enormous upside but also enormous downside, if the gamble doesn't pay off, the worst thing that happens is th
by cs702 2y ago
When a business bets itself on a bold gamble, with enormous upside but also enormous downside, if the gamble doesn't pay off, the worst thing that happens is that the business goes bankrupt, investors lose some money, employees lose their jobs, and everyone involved eventually moves on.
When a country bets itself on a bold gamble, with enormous upside but also enormous downside, if the gamble doesn't pay off, the worst thing that happens is that the country fails, institutions break down, conflict and violence erupt everywhere, entire populations suffer, and no one has a way out.
Like it or not, the US is going to bet itself on a bold gamble. Bureaucrats, lawmakers, and the courts move too slowly to be able to do anything about it. Indeed, it's already happening. As someone quoted in the OP explains: "Before Congress and the courts can respond, Elon Musk will have rolled up the whole government."
- basementcat 2y agoWealthy generally suffer less. Sometimes they may even thrive with new arbitrage opportunities.
- _boffin_ 2y agoThis reminds me of a story i read about in The Power Broker about Robert Moses. He wanted to tear down, i think, the old mayor's mansion or something, but someone got a court order to stop him. The date was set for a few days out. The night before the court date, he leveled the place and then went to court and said, "it's already done. There's no reason for me to be here." and that was it.
- ok_dad 2y agoMeigs Field airport in Chicago was demolished (well the runway was) overnight by order of Mayor Daley in the 90s during a contentious fight over whether to close it or not. Laws aren’t fast enough to stop someone with the will and power to act quickly.