Winners Take All | Anand Giridharadas | Talks at Google

Public schools work well throughout the majority of the developed world - the US seems to be a notable exception. Anand Giridharadas addresses this in his infamous google-talk quite nicely I think: ▶ this video (I'm linking this talk on HN way too often, but it just seems perfectly fitting so very often)

in “Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021” · View on HN

"These new philanthropists bring to charity an “entrepreneurial disposition”, Hay and Muller wrote in a 2014 paper, yet one that they suggest has been “diverting attention and resources away from the failings of contemporary manifestations of capitalism”, and may also be serving as a substitute for public spending withdrawn by the state. Essentially, what we are witnessing is the transfer of responsibility for public goods and services from democratic institutions to the wealthy, to be administered by an executive class. In the CEO society, the exercise of social responsibilities is no longer debated in terms of whether corporations should or shouldn’t be responsible for more than their own business interests. Instead, it is about how philanthropy can be used to reinforce a politico-economic system that enables such a small number of people to accumulate obscene amounts of wealth. Zuckerberg’s investment in solutions to the Bay Area housing crisis is an example of this broader trend." [1] Although with your "in excruciating detail" it sounds like you've been presented with the evidence before, yet you are somehow unwilling to admit the failings of the system. This last part is meant as an observation and not as a negative value judgement. This video with Anand Giridharadas is also great: ▶ this video , as well as his book 'Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World'. [1] [link]

in “Seeding by Ceding” · View on HN

Anand Ghiridaradas' Book "Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World" is very insightful in that regard. He held a google talk ( ▶ this video ) about it that got a bit of notoriety since he apparently ruffled a few feathers there.

in “Elite philanthropy mainly self-serving” · View on HN

For those interested, he held a Talk at Google about this topic: ▶ this video I thought it rather interesting that he was able to hold this kind of talk at Google - after all, his audience there probably consists of people that are probably part of the "winners" he is talking about.

in “GoFundMe CEO: ‘Gigantic Gaps’ in Health System Showing Up in Crowdfunding” · View on HN

I read this book and, to be honest, did not enjoy it very much. It consists largely of profiles of people involved in this sort of philanthrocapitalism. The main theme seems to be that the ultra-wealthy have coopted the work of social institutions in such a way as to undermine efforts for truly revolutionary change, that is change that might threaten them. The premise is interesting but the content is pretty boring. I got tired of reading about people whom the author believes to be mislead or malicious or otherwise on the wrong path. For those interested he gave a talk at Google in Cambridge that was pretty good. ▶ this video

in “Down with philanthrocapitalism, says an entertaining polemic” · View on HN

> “win win” (company gets subsidy, area gets jobs) Anand Giridharadas recently gave an a great talk[1] (at Google!) in which he explains how "win win" is a charade used to set the framing of the conversation. Framing a plan (like a subsidy) as something that benefits everyone has good optics, but it implicitly creates a framing that only considers that plan. (it's either this plan or "you get nothing"). Without the restricted framing, the choice isn't a binary "subsidies or nothing"; there are many ways that money could be spent. (e.g. maybe going without that business and investing in education or infrastructure would provide a greater benefit). [1] ▶ this video

in “Adding Up the Cost of Tax Breaks for Big Tech’s Data Centers (2016)” · View on HN

I think you'll like this talk by Anand Giridharadas [1]. He makes the point that the tech industry still thinks they're the pirates and don't realize that they're the navy. [1] ▶ this video

in “An Alternative History of Silicon Valley Disruption” · View on HN

> This is, in effect, one of the most common ways wealth is redistributed in the US. Why is it so bad? Because the government could simply tax those with wealth more and use taxation as a means of redistribution. Like most western countries do. Anand Giridharadas dissects this topic rather convincingly in his "Winners Take All", see also his infamous google talk: ▶ this video

in “Carnegie Mellon, University of Pittsburgh end use of legacy status in admissions” · View on HN

> And finally, the word “censorship”. This is an accusatory word used by people who think it relates to their non-existent “freedom of speech”. The first amendment applies to the agreement between the US government and its citizens. It does not apply to your relationship with YouTube. > YouTube is a corporation that has an entirely separate agreement with its users, which does not include freedom of speech. Therefore, it’s not censorship — by definition. The first amendment and freedom of speech are not synonyms, quite obviously because there can be freedom of speech outside of the jurisdiction of the US government; and similarly, Youtube is a trans-national corporation with more than just US citizens using it. Even if it were wholly within US jurisdiction and Youtube only served US citizens, the first amendment is still not a synonym for freedom of speech. The word censor comes from a Latin word for a governmental position in ancient Rome but it does not follow that all censorship is therefore only possible or enacted by government. Not only is there no supporting logic for that, it's not evident in practice . Companies like Twitter[1], Facebook[2] and Google[3] remove things from their platforms for political convenience (or, as Anand Giridharadas points out[4], for any convenience): > When you look at the ways in which the winners of our age give back, help out, make a difference, they are often designed to protect the system - above all - that the winners stand on top of.

in “The YouTube ban is un-American, wrong, and will backfire” · View on HN

VOC (Dutch East India Company) was more powerful than most nations at the time. I asked this question on Quora once and got interesting answers [0]. VOC was an incredible enterprise, and there are a few today too, imo, they exist as conglomerates (Samsung, P&G, Amazon), political entities (CIA, CPC), monopolies (Maersk, Google), syndicates (DeBeers [1], NeoAristocrats [2], BigPharma, BigBank, BigSugar, BigOil), and cults (ISIS). These select few have an immeasurable and uncontrolled sway over the globe-- its environment [3], its inhabitants [4], its future [5], its past [6], its present [7]. The greed unrelenting [8], the game rigged [9][10]. -- [0] [link] [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video [3] [link] [4] [link] [5] [link] [6] [link] [7] [link] [8] [link] [9] [link] [10] [link] edit: links

in “The Dutch East India Co was richer than Apple, Google, Facebook combined (2017)” · View on HN

> Just because some billionares use their money in good faith, how many of the >5.000.000$/year behave the same? Also billionaire philanthropy probably wont tackle the problems or solutions that will help society but hurt billionaires. ▶ this video

in “For Dell’s Billionaire CEO, Taxing the Ultra-Rich Is a Joke” · View on HN