• intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    7 months ago

    How much time has personal computing saved in your life? Are you really sure Gates hasn’t produced 48k lifetimes worth of saved time by his efforts?

    • Serinus@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      It doesn’t matter. One person can’t put forth 48k lifetimes worth of effort, and they don’t deserve that much in return.

      I promise the dude hasn’t worked harder than the combined efforts of 48 thousand people.

      We can reward talent, and we can reward effort. But no combination of those two is as ridiculous as our reward structure. Our reward structure is flawed because people with money make the rules, and their primary rule is that people with money should have more money.

      • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        7 months ago

        What you are saying is true, but there is not a better option for how the economy works that doesnt end really bad. I dont like bill gates, but the idea that he cant have what he has doesnt end well.

        • Serinus@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          It turns out we can have the tax rates of the 1950s and 1960s without the segregation.

          • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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            7 months ago

            The federal tax receipts/gdp were pretty much the same as they are right now in the 50s and 60s. Just because the tax rate was high doesnt mean people pay that much.

            • Serinus@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Yeah, what a shame it was that people had to invest in the longevity and reputation of their business in order to keep paying them out over a hundred years.

    • rocket_dragon@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      To answer this question seriously, Bill Gates has held back computing by stealing other people’s work and ideas and using Embrace Extend and Extinguish.

      If Bill Gates had no existed, arguably open source computing and hardware would be even more advanced than what we have now. Windows has been a net detriment to society.

      • dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        I don’t think that’s a realistic position to take though. If not Bill Gates it would have been someone else trying to capitalize, not a de facto FOSS utopia.