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The Microsoft Millionaires Come of Age
iseff writes "The NYTimes is running a story about the ways in which Microsoft millionaires are putting their money to use. According to the story, there is somewhere around 10,000 Microsoft made millionaires spending money on various pet projects. For example, former programmer Chris Peters bought the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association), while Stephanie DeVaan founded a political action committee and Rich Tong founded Ignition Partners, a VC firm."
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The problem is that all these millionaires made the vast majority of their money, not from free market forces, but from a government imposed monopoly on the distribution of infromation called copyrights.
This is not a natural form of profit, and when it comes to free markets, I suspect that many of them probably have no clue as how to make money any more than Miscosoft has a clue of how to make money outside of it's core office/os monopoly.
MS is literally burning most of their resources on trying to become an entertainment/media company right at a time in history when that part of the industry is predestined to become worthless as society enteres the information age. (Think of the people that were in the plantation business as the industrial revolution started to explode, yeah at first they became extremely rich as the cotton gin made their slaves 1000 times more productive, then they went to satanic hell)
The worst part is, very little of this money will likely go into successfull ventures, but when it hits the fan with the free software movement, a lot will likely go into dirty hardball. (Think SCO, MPAA BSA, RIAA rolled into one magnified by over 10000.)
The economy is a zero sum game it's just the costs are not calculated properly so it doesn't seem like that.
You see every economic activity makes impact on natural resources. Since there is a finite amount of natural resources available the expansion of the economy comes at the cost of natural resources.
So the economy is a zero sum game when you properly take into account the depletion of natural resources. This is the big ugly secret no economist wants to talk about. They would much rather pretend there is an alternate universe with infinate amount of money in it and that it's possible for every person in the world to be zillionaires!. It's a rising tide folks, everybody can be rich!
evil is as evil does
Let's pretend the welfare receient does one minute of "work" of some sort every day. At that rate bill gates does less to earn more. Do the math. Even if Bill Gates works 24 hours a day to earn his money it still doesn't add up right.
evil is as evil does
Capitalism is a tidy theory that has led to complete disaster every time it's been put into practice. All capitalist nations have always ended up with a handful of families owning all of the land and natural resources of a nation and eventual revolution where those families have been run out or killed.
that's why today no nation practices capitalim. The US which is the least socialist modern state has a robust welfare system, free education for all, progressive taxation, social security, welfare, medicare, and subsidies for every known industry.
I am afraid socialism has proven to be the only system that has worked and it has worked rather well in europe, asia, and the US. Right now socialism is the most widely practiced system of governance in the world. There are still capitalistic holdout nations in africa and other parts of the third world but they will forever be held back with contants coups, civil wars, and rebellions against the ruling class who control all the wealth.
Capitalism doesn't work, never has, never will. That's why the US is a socialist govt.
evil is as evil does
" I do not agree that capitalism does not work."
If you don't agree then I submit you are ignorant of thousands of years of mankinds history. Socialism is a new invention, before that capitalism ruled the world. In every single case without fail capitalism ended up as dictatorship, fiefdoms, monarchy, or an oligarchy of some sort. That's because in capitalism the rich always get richer.
"Also, I certainly wouldn't carry a grudge against someone merely because they have become successful."
That's kind of irrelevent. I hold grudges against lots of people for lots of reasons. So what?
"There are still capitalists in the US"
Of course there are. There are also flat earthers, people who believe in aliens and all kinds of other people. Alas reason and evidence shows that the earth is round, there are no aliens and capitalism does not work. Never has, never will. SOcialism is the only form of govt that has proven to work in the long term.
evil is as evil does