tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32914592.post8438617328672963949..comments2024-02-21T14:18:09.212-08:00Comments on R World: Progress under ThreatRon Davisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11972794876337195698noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32914592.post-39055581193159143712018-08-31T15:05:37.269-07:002018-08-31T15:05:37.269-07:00Ron, a good & thought provoking post but I hav...Ron, a good & thought provoking post but I have to wonder if things are as problematic as you are saying?<br /><br />Since hearing it I have thought you idea that corporations would become less "power over" and more "power to" as a very good idea. I also think we are seeing this happen, maybe not as fast as you or I would have thought but it is happening. <br /><br />What are the companies rising to dominate huge sectors of the economy? <br />Platforms. <br /><br />Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. are all platforms that people can leverage to create wealth & income. We may not be to your 1% threshold yet but I think we are headed in the right direction. <br /><br />Also, look at what Google did when they became Alphabet. They basically transformed into a holding company. We are seeing other huge businesses do much the same thing, buyout smaller businesses as a core growth strategy. This is not your idea at the individual level but it is close. These big companies are slowly becoming glorified holding companies with a portfolio of Brands they hold & manage. <br /><br />So I don't think you should doubt your theory, it is just that you may have the details of how it is playing out wrong. It is not necessarily workers in a corporation becoming pseudo-entrepreneurs and getting rich (although I bet that comes eventually through company owned business accelerators) but it is actual entrepreneurs building businesses via corporate platforms & getting income rich through the cashflow from those businesses or selling out and getting cash rich from the exit. <br /><br />This still fits your theory and is happening. <br /><br />I do agree that it seems to be being slowed down and old arguments resurfacing but I think trying to lay that at the foot of Trump is a bit of an ideological move on your part. Here's why: <br /><br />- First, lots of things are getting "re-debated" for goodness sake we have people arguing that the earth is flat. So I don't think the things you high-lighted are anything special, it is just some of the things being talked about in this great "re-debate" we seem to be having thanks to the internet. <br /><br />- Questioning the press is not a Trump thing, it has been happening for a long time now, Trump is more a result than cause. Plus, if you are willing to look past the rhetoric which presidents actual policies were more anti-press Trump or Obama? I mean just to choose the first link I got from Google https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shocked-by-the-trump-aggression-against-reporters-and-sources-the-blueprint-was-made-by-obama/2018/06/08/c0b84d88-6b06-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html if one looks at actions actually taken Obama is worse than Trump in many ways (although Trump has only been around a year & a half so he could still beat Obama) but even if you disagree trying to blame Trump's rhetoric targeting media sources that openly hate him without acknowledging how much of this problem predates Trump is disingenuous at best.<br /><br />- As far as making voting harder goes I am interested in what you mean? The main things I have heard is about requiring some ID to vote at the federal level. This is not really going backwards in any meaningful sense. Is there more?<br /><br />- And all I'll say about "Keynesian policies" is that everything you mention revolves around dispersing power until you talk about Keynesianism & the Fed those are both tools to centralize power. You might think they represent our best options but looking to alter them may very well come from a place you should be supporting at a philosophical level even if you disagree on the specific way Trump & co are going about it. <br /><br />Now I'll add the mandatory boiler plate that I am not a Trump fan, but I think it is important to point out that if you are not pointing to all the ways the Obama administration acted as a roadblock to the kind of progress you are talking about then attacking Trump is mostly just political Tribalism. <br /><br />Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14739778849859997648noreply@blogger.com