766
It’s time to block reckless AI IPOs and tax billionaires: We cannot let the billionaire class take unprecedented risks with our future. (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
70 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 45 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Google’s Sergey Brin spent $100m opposing California’s Prop 40, a one-time wealth tax that would put the funds toward healthcare and other public services.

I'm just amazed that this is legal. In my book, Sergei would right now be enjoyingnthe view out of a prison window for that stunt alone...

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 16 points 1 week ago (2 children)

    Using infinite money for political actions is protected as free-speech now, thanks to the Citizens United decision in 2010. That's a huge part of where this all went really badly wrong. It was not the first nail in the coffin, it was more like a railroad spike. And the fascism express is coming through, right on time. All aboard!

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    Citizens United

    Such naming pisses me off so much; and that this kind of deception works so well.

    In Germany we have for example the "Association of Family Businesses" who regularly advocate for libertarian shit. The name alone makes people think of the nice little baker two streets away that is run in the fourth generation, while the actual members are billionaires like Rossmann, Vorwerk, etc.

    Oh or also the "farmer's association" which typically lets people think of that nice old dude with his 10 cows and 2 tractors, while in reality it's the big corporations (including dairy factories and chemical companies).

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 6 days ago

    Yeah, perception is unfortunately more important than truth. With a functioning government and legal system we could at least try to fight against such misleading political activities but those institutions have been so extensively undermined I'm not sure if they're even really still standing or if they're just floating in the air waiting for gravity to notice there's nothing still holding them up.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 0 points 1 week ago

    You cannot really block these things unless you want to decide how someone can use his own money.

    I agree that lobbying should be illegal (basically I see it as legalized corruption) but in the end Brin could simply had bought billboard on every street or commercial time on TVs and newspapers.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent