> Asked for comment on this article, Mr. Brin said in a rare statement: “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place.”
He must be confusing socialism and communism. Presumably not a mistake. But embarrassing nonetheless. I suppose the gullible among us may be convinced
Yeah this is annoying. Ten years ago hearing of Google cofounder turning right wing would sound like hell freezing over. I think this is deeply interesting to see how tech has been captured by big money politics like every other industry.
it's not about fame and voting, it's about the fact that the oligarchic owners of the technology we rely on are actively destroying what's left of our democracy and society generally.
You'd think that Brin would know the difference between Soviet Russia and socialism. Money sure doesn't seem to make people smarter. Anyway, I really don't understand why he is trying to justify his choice in this awkward and clearly dumb way when there is a much more straightforward explanation that will do just fine.
It's called income tax, which isn't new, and used to be much higher for the top brackets. Income tax rates are not derived from the Constitution, and an amendment is not necessary. But if someone wanted to propose an amendment to forbid taxation, then good luck to them.
Let's say a group of 3 people wanted to pay for something that costs $3k. They want to split the cost fairly, but two of them only own $1k. The third person owns $70 billion. Would you ask them to agree to each give $1k? Or would you ask the person with $70 billion to maybe cover, idk, at least half? Anyone that answers "well its not fair to the person with 70 billion to ask that they pay more", is an idealogically-captured simpleton. It only takes basic logic and empathy to derive the obvious answer but meaningless ideology prevails somehow
> After once backing liberal causes, the Google co-founder has praised President Trump, donated to Republicans and spent $57 million to try to block a California billionaire tax.
"Don't be evil" was a long time ago in a Googleplex far, far away.
When Performative Activism and Praising the King are opposing strategies, the Smart Money decides after comparing the RoI's.
How many of the world's top (say) 50 "liberal" billionaire support special taxes on billionaires?
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