It's the same old American story...wealthy people scream about the need for free markets, but just mean they want to be free to do whatever they want with no consequences. And when the messaging is failing, when the people find ways to start piercing the veil of this nonsense, you must stop it. If they are gathering to talk, beat them or fine them or simply buy up all the spaces they can gather. If they are sharing messages amongst themselves, take over their ability to communicate and share messages that counter your own. In other countries, we call them oligarchs and tyrants. In TV shows and movies, we call them supervillains. In the States, where the compliant corporate media cares more about access and profits, we praise them as titans of industry, prop up their carefully crafted self-made stories, and jam one story after another down our throats about how any criticism of them needs to take into account their scary-talented ideas changing the world....even though many of those ideas, products and services were created by and made successful by workers whose names we will never know.
I sometimes find it fruitful to ask "What would Adam Smith have thought?" And I think he would have been simply appalled by Musk. Astonishingly, 235 years ago, and before the industrial revolution, Smith foresaw the possibility that those rewarded by his capitalist system might achieve levels of power that would enable them to distort his market, thereby destroying the system.
His solution was a strong government which would exact progressive taxes on the wealthy, thereby curbing their power, at the same time providing funding for what we would call infrastructure today. Roads, bridges and schools are entities in which the capitalist would have little interest, but which are of enormous interest to society.
Far from being a cruel system, therefore, Smithian capitalism promotes a congenial society of great wealth. The best examples are the Scandinavian countries, where people have the highest "happiness" rates in the world.
We also had, I believe, a Smithian economy in America between 1948 and 1980. Then along came a pair of chuckleheads, Reagan and Friedman, who stood Smith on his head, cut taxes on the wealthy, bust unions, and started us on the short road to American oligarchy.
Your point about the rise of shareholder value, as opposed to stakeholder value, is spot on. Shareholders can accumulate wealth without paying taxes. Ecce the American oligarch Elon Musk! The solution? Higher rates of taxes as a baseline, and a wealth tax for the wealthy. This is not socialism, it's enlightened capitalism.
MR. REICH, WE NEED TO PUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ON A HIGH STAGE, ( I am a part of the short in stature crew!) SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GAMES THE SUPER RICH PLAY! Switch you off…… I DON’T THINK SO!
Musk must be put in his place! Good lord! He already has too much influence! T. Boone Pickins was the prime mover behind the hostile takeover! Before he died he bought up water rights to the aquifers in the dry west! He was a monster! Where will this end? Musk is a megalomaniac like trump! He is so full of himself as was Hitler and Stalin that it disturbs me! The whole world is looking for a savior instead of relying on themselves! I am really disgusted with musk! I thought his providing Ukraine with internet was great because it helped our cause! If he wanted to be a real force for good instead of an egomaniac, then he should finance a mercenary army for Ukraine!
"Musk said last week that he doesn’t care about the economics of the deal and is pursuing it because it is "extremely important to the future of civilization.""
I don't think the man has any understanding at all of what the 'civilized' portion of civilization even means. I would be willing to bet he doesn't even care. He lacks understanding and empathy. So much power in the hands of such a person if beyond frightening.
I was praying I wouldn’t live long enough to see America become completely unhinged and full of hate. Trump is a reflection of just how sick and divided we have become as a nation. What you accept as normal in politics, You would never allow to take place in your home. We need healing functional leadership to inspire and bring us together. Instead we have hate and division. We need a leadership that promotes empathy, forgiveness,sensitivity and love. Empathy is a powerful feeling and Its not just a word. It is a connection with others and yourself. It establishes trust and love. Kindness and caring for others is missing. Billionaires are promoting hate and division to destroy our democracy for fascism. Remember the antidote for narcissism is empathy. They cannot exist in the same body. Love of your fellow man is missing. LOVE ❤️
Exactly. This is really scary. Elon Musk, like Rupert Murdoch, is an immigrant who has milked the dysfunction in our American system for his own benefit. No thought of giving back to that which has given so much to him.
Our corporate-sponsored Supreme Court in its infinite wisdom has ruled that money is speech under the First Amendment. The logical extension of that is that those with more money have more free speech. They also have more ability to suppress others' speech. I don't think that is what the founders intended.
the more money a man has, the more free speech they can buy! when it comes to the rest of us, however, our lack of funds translates to "shaddup already!"
What Ian said; plus, if he does acquire Twitter, the only recourse the truth would have is to cancel accounts (yep, freedom to go piss up a rope) and therein lies the one big problem— there’d be free speech for the purveyors of [Musk approved] lies & misinformation and no where to share the truth with others that we share [accurate] information with.
And, since there is no viable alternative with anywhere near the same clout as Twitter, he could effectively stifle any information that might not fit into his narrow-minded parameters…
It would be just like Silence of the Lambs (about to go to slaughter) with a wide-open platform for “approved” information and the power to send the truth to some kind of purgatory.
>Exactly<! Be wary of >any< wealthy capitalist preaching freedom! Between the capitalists & communists, it's a toss-up which is the "evil twin" of the other!
He openly said he wants to become a full time influencer! When you make all the money you then want power! We can’t let this happen! This is the problem with these kings of business!
My greatest fear is that Musk would allow the former occupant of the Peoples House back onto Twitter. He may be shrewd and have made billions but he is also equally as untrustworthy as the ex-Resident. I have voiced my disdain for Musk on this forum before and I will reiterate that he is out for one himself alone; “Freedom” my foot! More like CONTROL. Do something ‘extremely important for civilization’ Elon — jump aboard your spaceship and take TFG with you as far as you can go…
The free market. That makes me rage laugh every damn time. It’s “free” if you’re rich, white and a man sure. Or at least RICH, with resources, with connections. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is a farce. They have golden bootstraps. They have social support, connections in powerful places, it’s not just the money, it’s all the resources.
If I read one more ducking article that talks about a corporation “struggling to keep up” while the bonuses stay the same, the profits stay in the double digit millions or more, I’m gonna lose it. Makes me sick, it’s all lies lies lies. CEOs make 353x more than median worker!! SICK! But if we help the DYING children, it’s socialism. Excuse me I’m going to go throw up and write guilty in blood on my tombstone.
Robert, I fear you have brought up our next great crisis: megabucks to control the world, takeover with cash, too wealthy to stop, a monster with a ego maniac determination to rule the world. A Putin- tRump Republican with cash to buy anything to make it work for him, and him only. Buy the government, buy an army, buy the media, build a world banking system, change the dollar, decide what race survives. It is endless. People with money are supposed to use it to inhance the future of worldly good, however that cannot be accomplished with the frame of mind Musk is following. I pray there is a way to shut this down before it runs away with us
It's the same old American story...wealthy people scream about the need for free markets, but just mean they want to be free to do whatever they want with no consequences. And when the messaging is failing, when the people find ways to start piercing the veil of this nonsense, you must stop it. If they are gathering to talk, beat them or fine them or simply buy up all the spaces they can gather. If they are sharing messages amongst themselves, take over their ability to communicate and share messages that counter your own. In other countries, we call them oligarchs and tyrants. In TV shows and movies, we call them supervillains. In the States, where the compliant corporate media cares more about access and profits, we praise them as titans of industry, prop up their carefully crafted self-made stories, and jam one story after another down our throats about how any criticism of them needs to take into account their scary-talented ideas changing the world....even though many of those ideas, products and services were created by and made successful by workers whose names we will never know.
I sometimes find it fruitful to ask "What would Adam Smith have thought?" And I think he would have been simply appalled by Musk. Astonishingly, 235 years ago, and before the industrial revolution, Smith foresaw the possibility that those rewarded by his capitalist system might achieve levels of power that would enable them to distort his market, thereby destroying the system.
His solution was a strong government which would exact progressive taxes on the wealthy, thereby curbing their power, at the same time providing funding for what we would call infrastructure today. Roads, bridges and schools are entities in which the capitalist would have little interest, but which are of enormous interest to society.
Far from being a cruel system, therefore, Smithian capitalism promotes a congenial society of great wealth. The best examples are the Scandinavian countries, where people have the highest "happiness" rates in the world.
We also had, I believe, a Smithian economy in America between 1948 and 1980. Then along came a pair of chuckleheads, Reagan and Friedman, who stood Smith on his head, cut taxes on the wealthy, bust unions, and started us on the short road to American oligarchy.
Your point about the rise of shareholder value, as opposed to stakeholder value, is spot on. Shareholders can accumulate wealth without paying taxes. Ecce the American oligarch Elon Musk! The solution? Higher rates of taxes as a baseline, and a wealth tax for the wealthy. This is not socialism, it's enlightened capitalism.
Back to Smith, back to basics.
MR. REICH, WE NEED TO PUT PEOPLE LIKE YOU ON A HIGH STAGE, ( I am a part of the short in stature crew!) SPEAKING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GAMES THE SUPER RICH PLAY! Switch you off…… I DON’T THINK SO!
YOU NEED A BIGGER MICROPHONE!
Musk must be put in his place! Good lord! He already has too much influence! T. Boone Pickins was the prime mover behind the hostile takeover! Before he died he bought up water rights to the aquifers in the dry west! He was a monster! Where will this end? Musk is a megalomaniac like trump! He is so full of himself as was Hitler and Stalin that it disturbs me! The whole world is looking for a savior instead of relying on themselves! I am really disgusted with musk! I thought his providing Ukraine with internet was great because it helped our cause! If he wanted to be a real force for good instead of an egomaniac, then he should finance a mercenary army for Ukraine!
"Musk said last week that he doesn’t care about the economics of the deal and is pursuing it because it is "extremely important to the future of civilization.""
I don't think the man has any understanding at all of what the 'civilized' portion of civilization even means. I would be willing to bet he doesn't even care. He lacks understanding and empathy. So much power in the hands of such a person if beyond frightening.
I was praying I wouldn’t live long enough to see America become completely unhinged and full of hate. Trump is a reflection of just how sick and divided we have become as a nation. What you accept as normal in politics, You would never allow to take place in your home. We need healing functional leadership to inspire and bring us together. Instead we have hate and division. We need a leadership that promotes empathy, forgiveness,sensitivity and love. Empathy is a powerful feeling and Its not just a word. It is a connection with others and yourself. It establishes trust and love. Kindness and caring for others is missing. Billionaires are promoting hate and division to destroy our democracy for fascism. Remember the antidote for narcissism is empathy. They cannot exist in the same body. Love of your fellow man is missing. LOVE ❤️
Exactly. This is really scary. Elon Musk, like Rupert Murdoch, is an immigrant who has milked the dysfunction in our American system for his own benefit. No thought of giving back to that which has given so much to him.
Our corporate-sponsored Supreme Court in its infinite wisdom has ruled that money is speech under the First Amendment. The logical extension of that is that those with more money have more free speech. They also have more ability to suppress others' speech. I don't think that is what the founders intended.
the more money a man has, the more free speech they can buy! when it comes to the rest of us, however, our lack of funds translates to "shaddup already!"
What Ian said; plus, if he does acquire Twitter, the only recourse the truth would have is to cancel accounts (yep, freedom to go piss up a rope) and therein lies the one big problem— there’d be free speech for the purveyors of [Musk approved] lies & misinformation and no where to share the truth with others that we share [accurate] information with.
And, since there is no viable alternative with anywhere near the same clout as Twitter, he could effectively stifle any information that might not fit into his narrow-minded parameters…
It would be just like Silence of the Lambs (about to go to slaughter) with a wide-open platform for “approved” information and the power to send the truth to some kind of purgatory.
Just like Putin. Authoritarianism at work.
Beware…
>Exactly<! Be wary of >any< wealthy capitalist preaching freedom! Between the capitalists & communists, it's a toss-up which is the "evil twin" of the other!
He openly said he wants to become a full time influencer! When you make all the money you then want power! We can’t let this happen! This is the problem with these kings of business!
My greatest fear is that Musk would allow the former occupant of the Peoples House back onto Twitter. He may be shrewd and have made billions but he is also equally as untrustworthy as the ex-Resident. I have voiced my disdain for Musk on this forum before and I will reiterate that he is out for one himself alone; “Freedom” my foot! More like CONTROL. Do something ‘extremely important for civilization’ Elon — jump aboard your spaceship and take TFG with you as far as you can go…
🌻
In effect, he wants to be an information monopolist. I grew up with one -- intra-family, my father. It didn't turn out well.
The free market. That makes me rage laugh every damn time. It’s “free” if you’re rich, white and a man sure. Or at least RICH, with resources, with connections. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is a farce. They have golden bootstraps. They have social support, connections in powerful places, it’s not just the money, it’s all the resources.
If I read one more ducking article that talks about a corporation “struggling to keep up” while the bonuses stay the same, the profits stay in the double digit millions or more, I’m gonna lose it. Makes me sick, it’s all lies lies lies. CEOs make 353x more than median worker!! SICK! But if we help the DYING children, it’s socialism. Excuse me I’m going to go throw up and write guilty in blood on my tombstone.
Robert, I fear you have brought up our next great crisis: megabucks to control the world, takeover with cash, too wealthy to stop, a monster with a ego maniac determination to rule the world. A Putin- tRump Republican with cash to buy anything to make it work for him, and him only. Buy the government, buy an army, buy the media, build a world banking system, change the dollar, decide what race survives. It is endless. People with money are supposed to use it to inhance the future of worldly good, however that cannot be accomplished with the frame of mind Musk is following. I pray there is a way to shut this down before it runs away with us
Aren’t we already too late!