3 ms·

More or less hilarious than "billionnaire that builds companies that utterly depend on government subsidies but the companies are not doing well, goes into gove

by spwa4 2y ago

More or less hilarious than "billionnaire that builds companies that utterly depend on government subsidies but the companies are not doing well, goes into government to make the government more efficient and spend less" ? How do these statements compare? You know, on a hilarity scale from 1 to 10?

gruez 2y ago
>"billionnaire that builds companies that utterly depend on government subsidies but the companies are not doing well, goes into government to make the government more efficient and spend less" Given that he's cutting government workers and programs he despises (eg. "DEI" or foreign aid), that's not too surprising. What people think is important is in the eye of the beholder, so it's not incongruent for someone to be pro government subsidies in their industry, but against other forms of government spending.
- clipsy 2y ago
  "It's good when the government gives me money and bad when the government gives other people money" is the mentality of a child, and not a particularly bright one.
  - robocat 2y ago
    Wealth taxes have the same argument but plenty of people like them: It's bad when the government takes my money via income taxes and good when the government takes other people's money via wealth taxes
  - gruez 2y ago
    That's basically... every special interest group? Those teacher unions that more funding for schools, paid for by cuts to policing or more taxes? Clearly "the mentality of a child, and not a particularly bright one".
  - spwa4 2y ago
    But "government gives me money" is how Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world (lookup interstate commerce tax exemption). And "government gives me money" is how Elon Musk became the richest man in the world (both Tesla and SpaceX are running on government subsidies. Running as in they couldn't have grown without subsidies and can't maintain themselves without constant subsidies). "Government gives me money" is how Carlos Slim became the richest man in the world. And so on. (btw: this is working on the assumption, if the government pays for a satellite launch, the government may get something, but it's still a subsidy. Even though SpaceX got plenty of subsidy too) In fact, over the last century the mantle of richest man in the world has been worn by 12 people. In 7 cases it was a government that made them the richest man in the world. In 4 out of those 7 cases it was the US government. That's disregarding that the military-industrial complex is full of rich companies that may not have conquered the very top spot, but are doing really, really well. Getting the government to give you money, in the sense of sponsoring your business, has been THE path to incredible wealth.

by spwa4 2y ago

gruez 2y ago

>"billionnaire that builds companies that utterly depend on government subsidies but the companies are not doing well, goes into government to make the government more efficient and spend less" Given that he's cutting government workers and programs he despises (eg. "DEI" or foreign aid), that's not too surprising. What people think is important is in the eye of the beholder, so it's not incongruent for someone to be pro government subsidies in their industry, but against other forms of government spending.

clipsy 2y ago
"It's good when the government gives me money and bad when the government gives other people money" is the mentality of a child, and not a particularly bright one.
- robocat 2y ago
  Wealth taxes have the same argument but plenty of people like them: It's bad when the government takes my money via income taxes and good when the government takes other people's money via wealth taxes
- gruez 2y ago
  That's basically... every special interest group? Those teacher unions that more funding for schools, paid for by cuts to policing or more taxes? Clearly "the mentality of a child, and not a particularly bright one".
- spwa4 2y ago
  But "government gives me money" is how Jeff Bezos became the richest man in the world (lookup interstate commerce tax exemption). And "government gives me money" is how Elon Musk became the richest man in the world (both Tesla and SpaceX are running on government subsidies. Running as in they couldn't have grown without subsidies and can't maintain themselves without constant subsidies). "Government gives me money" is how Carlos Slim became the richest man in the world. And so on. (btw: this is working on the assumption, if the government pays for a satellite launch, the government may get something, but it's still a subsidy. Even though SpaceX got plenty of subsidy too) In fact, over the last century the mantle of richest man in the world has been worn by 12 people. In 7 cases it was a government that made them the richest man in the world. In 4 out of those 7 cases it was the US government. That's disregarding that the military-industrial complex is full of rich companies that may not have conquered the very top spot, but are doing really, really well. Getting the government to give you money, in the sense of sponsoring your business, has been THE path to incredible wealth.