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from the what-you-see-depends-on-where-you-are dept.
Silicon Valley is a uniquely American creation, the product of an entrepreneurial spirit and no-holds-barred capitalism that now drives many aspects of modern life.
But the likes of Facebook, Google and Apple are increasingly facing an uncomfortable truth: it is Europe's culture of tougher oversight of companies, not America's laissez-faire attitude, which could soon rule their industry as governments seek to combat fake news and prevent extremists from using the internet to fan the flames of hatred.
While the U.S. has largely relied on market forces to regulate content in a country where free speech is revered, European officials have shown they are willing to act. Germany recently passed a law imposing fines of up to 50 million euros ($59 million) on websites that don't remove hate speech within 24 hours. British Prime Minister Theresa May wants companies to take down extremist material within two hours. And across the EU, Google has for years been obliged to remove search results if there is a legitimate complaint about the content's veracity or relevance.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @04:13PM (9 children)
The Big Corporations get a lot of their money from Big Governmental contracts, and special governmental treatment.
A government is inherently anti-capitalist; there's no way I would voluntarily pay for the service of throwing people into cages for smoking a plant in the comfort of "their own" homes—you'd have to take my money involuntarily. That's not Capitalism.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday November 03 2017, @04:41PM (2 children)
No True Scotsman.
The US likes to believe it practices "no holds barred capitalism", and claims to do so. I can't think of any other countries that make the claim that their version of capitalism is even more "no holds barred".
Also, the US's drug war just shows that it's not a libertarian paradise, but that's nothing new, and again, I don't know of any other countries that are more libertarian (though a few are more lax on drugs).
Anyway, I'd just like to add that the American people support the Drug War, and throwing people into cages for smoking a plant in the comfort of their own homes. They voted *explicitly* for this a year ago when they chose Jeff Sessions to be their Attorney General. What's really funny is how stupid some of them are, acting shocked that electing an anti-pot demagogue would result in mj facilities being raided; I know someone like this.
(Score: 5, Touché) by JNCF on Friday November 03 2017, @07:57PM
Parts of Somalia are more libertarian, certainly. There are plenty of countries with lower taxes. Last time I checked, northern Pakistan had some pretty beautiful gun laws (you can purchase anti-aircraft guns without any paperwork).
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Saturday November 04 2017, @01:11PM
That's changing in some ways: A majority of the country now supports legalization of marijuana.
That said, the main reason they support it is that they think of the Drug War as being aimed at people other than themselves. They never think that it's possible they'll be busted for drugs that were planted on them by a cop while they were walking down the street. They never think that they are the homeowner who will have the cops bust in on their family guns blazing. They never think that they'll be the ones roughed up on the side of the highway for exercising their Fourth Amendment rights. They never think that they'll be the one to lose everything they had when the cops seize it via asset forfeiture. They never think that they'll be the ones shot in a battle that has nothing to do with them.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 03 2017, @05:42PM (2 children)
Capitalism isn't a political system. It's an idealised economic system.
Capitalism as a political system would kill people who weren't rich enough, productive enough (you got a serious illness?, off to the efficiency chamber with you), or expected to be productive enough (bad grades?, off to the efficiency chamber with you). Things like slavery would be just fine, as long as it's profitable enough for the shareholders.. The only ethic and morals is profit for the owners. In fact, we can see the effects of treating it like a political system. As just one example, universal health care, which is cheaper and more effective on a societal level but would mean much less profit for a very wealthy group.
(Score: 3, Informative) by UncleSlacky on Friday November 03 2017, @07:12PM
>Capitalism as a political system would kill people who weren't rich enough, productive enough (you got a serious illness?, off to the efficiency chamber with you),
Like what happens to people without health insurance?
>Things like slavery would be just fine, as long as it's profitable enough for the shareholders.. The only ethic and morals is profit for the owners
Like private prisons? (thanks, 13th amendment!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 04 2017, @01:14AM
If you kill someone against his will, then you are re-appropriating that person's capital involuntarily.
Well, capitalism is voluntary appropriation of capital. So... NOPE. Not capitalism.
faggot.
(Score: 5, Informative) by UncleSlacky on Friday November 03 2017, @07:10PM
>A government is inherently anti-capitalist;
Industry-funded lobbyists ensuring capitalist-friendly laws get passed don't real...
>there's no way I would voluntarily pay for the service of throwing people into cages for smoking a plant in the comfort of "their own" homes—you'd have to take my money involuntarily. That's not Capitalism.
You would if you owned a pharma company that sold a painkiller that was being outcompeted by marijuana:
http://www.businessinsider.fr/us/police-unions-and-pharmaceutical-companies-fund-anti-marijuana-fight-2014-7/ [businessinsider.fr]
or if you wanted to keep your private prison full of cheap labor:
https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/12/08/pot-legalization-opponents-aim-to-protect-their-bottom-line [usnews.com]
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Friday November 03 2017, @08:51PM
The
libertariananarchist straw man is back!If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 3, Informative) by dry on Saturday November 04 2017, @02:25AM
Huh? Those anti-pot laws were bought and paid for by a capitalist, namely Hearst, who had invested heavily in pulp paper and his investment was threatened by cheap hemp paper.
That's capitalism, investing your capital to get your product to market and government is just a means to save money by buying laws rather then investing in expensive stuff like creating a better product.
Why so many Americans don't seem to understand how capitalism works, I don't know.