One function of government is to protect society from "voluntary" (in most cases financially incentivized/coerced) actions that seem beneficial to an individual actor, but aggregately have a deleterious effect on the prosperity of the whole population.
Consider - dumping toxic waste into the river is "voluntary" (as above) and almost always beneficial to the dumper. Yet most of us are happy to have the government prevent it. Because it's harmful to all of us, even if it benefits the person doing it.
Yeah he does cheap out. If he wants to pay a real middle-class salary (you need significantly more than $100k to actually afford a decent house in most US metro areas), there will be plenty of American talent knocking at his door. But if he wants to pay chump wages - which he does, by your own numbers - then he'll find nothing but chumps.
I notice that people who bought houses a few decades ago tend to seriously underestimate the income required to have a decent life in an American city. Those are the same folks that have benefited most from the crazy housing inflation. At the expense of younger generations, of course. Not saying this applies to the parent poster - just an observation.
I've had several companies tell me they were very interested in improving the security of their software. Then when I found some security issues and suggested we fix them, was told to stop wasting their time with irrelevant stuff. Most recent time this happened was 2 weeks ago.
One company, a few years ago, was particularly bad. One of the vulnerabilities I'd pointed out was exploited a couple months after, resulting in the compromise of a server. That server had full access to a database full of HIPAA-protected patient data. Of course the company leadership denied left and right that the data was PHI (protected health information). But I've worked for other organizations that did take their HIPAA obligations seriously, read parts of the law, and this stuff super obviously was PHI. Also had data on a few patients in Massachusetts, making it subject to the somewhat draconian Massachusetts Data Security Law.
FWIW, that same company's software also directly facilitates likely violations of several state's labor laws. I'm afraid I don't know enough about various state labor laws to say for sure - and some states have really, really bad labor laws - but the stuff they did was super shady. Basically amounted to shorting low-wage workers on their already meager pay. Which is exactly what the customers wanted.
When I pointed out to bossman that this was probably illegal, and surely unethical, his reply was: "shut the fuck up and code, you sub-human peon!"
Without a doubt the worst company I've ever worked with. In terms of leadership, ethics, and code quality. Naturally they are a VC-backed startup based in San Francisco.
Not going to name the company here - no interest in getting sued for libel. But if you're a gubmint enforcement type, feel free to present yourself and your credentials, and we can chat. I post under my real name, you shouldn't have any problem contacting me.
Google is too important to too many people. Yet they operate with callous disregard for their users, and near total impunity for harm they "accidentally" cause. It's time to impose democratic accountability on this de facto public service.
Fraudulent votes from dead people, non-citizens, etc - voter fraud - is a red herring. It is quite unlikely to get worse because of electronic voting.
The real issue is election fraud - where a small number of people can directly manipulate the election result data. Something like UPDATE votes SET selection = (SELECT id FROM candidates WHERE party = "Crony Capitalist"); Tho probably a bit more sophisticated - getting 100% of the vote always looks bad.
1. That a certain immoral public policy might sometimes be expedient in a certain economic configuration does not make it any less immoral. Let me emphasize: The question of whether the government ought or ought not grant monopolies on ideas - monopolies that are so similar to ownership that their own advocates describe them as "intellectual property" - is first and foremost a moral question. The ownership of ideas is offensive to human dignity. It must be abolished now.
2. Dude, you are dreaming if you think those folksy anecdotes even sort of approximate how the real capitalist economy works.
3. Do you really want to label me a freeloader? I have written and published a non-trivial amount of Free Software. I put my money where my mouth is. Feel free to show off your more own more impressive contributions - for surely there are many who have contributed far more than I. Or, shut the fuck up and go do something useful for the world.
OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!!11!!! OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!!11!!!
Wait, you don't think so? OMG OMG you're a sky falling DENIALIST!!!1!!!!!11!1 Denialist, denialist, DENIALIST, witch, witch, WITCH! Burn the witch, burn the witch, BURN THE WITCH!
You ignorant debtor redneck cishet fuckboy shitlord, you don't even deserve to live, much less have a voice in public policy. Now go fuck off to your trailer park and Walmart job, and be thankful we smart, well-connected, politically correct good people haven't yet sent the drones to liquidate you. 'Cuz everyone knows you deserve it. Now I really must get back to my ivory tower, my hand-poured artisanal coffee, and my super duper duper important job.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes - OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!1!!!!!11!!1!!! The SKY is FALLING!!!1!!!!1!!
What you describe is but a lesser example of the many problems with capitalism. However it seems implausible that, without immoral ownership of ideas, innovation will just grind to a halt. People were inventing things long before these badlaws were enacted, and will continue to do so in their absence.
Probably the reason they can't find those 18 people is because tech wages in the Bay Area have been stagnant for a decade, while during the same time the real cost of living has more than doubled.
Slashdot Mirror
Lazy bum! A REAL infoserf works AT LEAST 26 hours a day, 8 days a week. And that's during the holidays!
And you have no right to tell me I can't dump toxic waste in the river you drink from, broham.
One function of government is to protect society from "voluntary" (in most cases financially incentivized/coerced) actions that seem beneficial to an individual actor, but aggregately have a deleterious effect on the prosperity of the whole population.
Consider - dumping toxic waste into the river is "voluntary" (as above) and almost always beneficial to the dumper. Yet most of us are happy to have the government prevent it. Because it's harmful to all of us, even if it benefits the person doing it.
Yeah he does cheap out. If he wants to pay a real middle-class salary (you need significantly more than $100k to actually afford a decent house in most US metro areas), there will be plenty of American talent knocking at his door. But if he wants to pay chump wages - which he does, by your own numbers - then he'll find nothing but chumps.
I notice that people who bought houses a few decades ago tend to seriously underestimate the income required to have a decent life in an American city. Those are the same folks that have benefited most from the crazy housing inflation. At the expense of younger generations, of course. Not saying this applies to the parent poster - just an observation.
I've had several companies tell me they were very interested in improving the security of their software. Then when I found some security issues and suggested we fix them, was told to stop wasting their time with irrelevant stuff. Most recent time this happened was 2 weeks ago.
One company, a few years ago, was particularly bad. One of the vulnerabilities I'd pointed out was exploited a couple months after, resulting in the compromise of a server. That server had full access to a database full of HIPAA-protected patient data. Of course the company leadership denied left and right that the data was PHI (protected health information). But I've worked for other organizations that did take their HIPAA obligations seriously, read parts of the law, and this stuff super obviously was PHI. Also had data on a few patients in Massachusetts, making it subject to the somewhat draconian Massachusetts Data Security Law.
FWIW, that same company's software also directly facilitates likely violations of several state's labor laws. I'm afraid I don't know enough about various state labor laws to say for sure - and some states have really, really bad labor laws - but the stuff they did was super shady. Basically amounted to shorting low-wage workers on their already meager pay. Which is exactly what the customers wanted.
When I pointed out to bossman that this was probably illegal, and surely unethical, his reply was: "shut the fuck up and code, you sub-human peon!"
Without a doubt the worst company I've ever worked with. In terms of leadership, ethics, and code quality. Naturally they are a VC-backed startup based in San Francisco.
Not going to name the company here - no interest in getting sued for libel. But if you're a gubmint enforcement type, feel free to present yourself and your credentials, and we can chat. I post under my real name, you shouldn't have any problem contacting me.
Google is too important to too many people. Yet they operate with callous disregard for their users, and near total impunity for harm they "accidentally" cause. It's time to impose democratic accountability on this de facto public service.
"Fake news" is fake.
A pardon is just the start. National Hero Snowden deserves the Medal of Freedom and a seat in Congress.
Oh surprise. Puppet of the Oligarchs Obama refuses to pardon National Hero Snowden. I'm just shocked, shocked I tell you.
In other news, the Pope reveals his strong support for Catholicism.
"fuck you, prole, that's why"
In Soviet America, DNS queries you!
I love the Unity desktop. It's the biggest reason I continue to use Ubuntu on my laptops.
In other news, water is wet, the pope is catholic, and bears shit in the woods.
Have you heard of this exciting new technology called "Google"? I think it might be just the thing you're looking for.
Fraudulent votes from dead people, non-citizens, etc - voter fraud - is a red herring. It is quite unlikely to get worse because of electronic voting.
The real issue is election fraud - where a small number of people can directly manipulate the election result data. Something like UPDATE votes SET selection = (SELECT id FROM candidates WHERE party = "Crony Capitalist"); Tho probably a bit more sophisticated - getting 100% of the vote always looks bad.
Congratulations, you're on the wrong side of history.
Since you apparently didn't read before, allow me to repeat:
Dude, you are dreaming if you think those folksy anecdotes even sort of approximate how the real capitalist economy works.
1. That a certain immoral public policy might sometimes be expedient in a certain economic configuration does not make it any less immoral. Let me emphasize: The question of whether the government ought or ought not grant monopolies on ideas - monopolies that are so similar to ownership that their own advocates describe them as "intellectual property" - is first and foremost a moral question. The ownership of ideas is offensive to human dignity. It must be abolished now.
2. Dude, you are dreaming if you think those folksy anecdotes even sort of approximate how the real capitalist economy works.
3. Do you really want to label me a freeloader? I have written and published a non-trivial amount of Free Software. I put my money where my mouth is. Feel free to show off your more own more impressive contributions - for surely there are many who have contributed far more than I. Or, shut the fuck up and go do something useful for the world.
OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!!11!!! OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!!11!!!
Wait, you don't think so? OMG OMG you're a sky falling DENIALIST!!!1!!!!!11!1 Denialist, denialist, DENIALIST, witch, witch, WITCH! Burn the witch, burn the witch, BURN THE WITCH!
You ignorant debtor redneck cishet fuckboy shitlord, you don't even deserve to live, much less have a voice in public policy. Now go fuck off to your trailer park and Walmart job, and be thankful we smart, well-connected, politically correct good people haven't yet sent the drones to liquidate you. 'Cuz everyone knows you deserve it. Now I really must get back to my ivory tower, my hand-poured artisanal coffee, and my super duper duper important job.
Let's see, where was I? Oh yes - OMG OMG the sky is falling!!!1!!!!!11!!1!!! The SKY is FALLING!!!1!!!!1!!
What you describe is but a lesser example of the many problems with capitalism. However it seems implausible that, without immoral ownership of ideas, innovation will just grind to a halt. People were inventing things long before these badlaws were enacted, and will continue to do so in their absence.
Correct, I do not own a government-granted monopoly on any ideas. I also do not own any slaves. And your point is?
All patents are bad patents. The ownership of ideas is immoral and should be abolished.
bleating about the "invasion" of privacy (honestly, it's 2016, it's not an invasion anymore)
If the invasion is over, is it now an occupation?
In Soviet America, app sells you!
In today's American tech industry, it always boils down to "moar slave labor!!!1!!"
Probably the reason they can't find those 18 people is because tech wages in the Bay Area have been stagnant for a decade, while during the same time the real cost of living has more than doubled.