tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post7040812917317419200..comments2024-03-28T16:22:14.888-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: How much it costs to be Bill GatesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39233755079305607202010-10-09T17:34:40.100-07:002010-10-09T17:34:40.100-07:00The time between WWII and the 1960s can seem long ...The time between WWII and the 1960s can seem long or short depending on how old you were at the time. Look at most of the adventure fiction of the early 60s. Just about every hero and villain had a WWII backstory. James Bond got started in in his trade during the war. Reed Richards and Ben Grimm were just old enough to have served and encountered Sgt. Nick Fury, along with his Howlin' Commandos. A somewhat older Fury was then made over into Marvel's own version of James Bond as the movies became popular. (True Lies showed that Charleton Heston could have been a great Nick Fury if Hollywood had pursued it back then.)<br /><br />By and large, the writers, who were mostly of an age to have lived through the war, had difficulty believing in a leading man who had no experience of the conflict. It defined manhood for a generation. Gradually, characters like Grimm and Richards became Korea, then Vietnam veterans in order to not be unbelievably old. But not Fury, since there was too much WWII material to ignore, so he instead got an extended lifespan through medical intervention, while Captain America, another character who couldn't be separated from WWII, got put on ice for a few decades.<br /><br />Mad Men is right at the edge. Making Don Draper a WWII would have made him too old, so it had to be Korea. If the same show were set in the 80s he'd have to have been in Vietnam. After that it gets difficult. There haven't been that many opportunities for prolonged combat experience until just the last few years. More and more characters were turning up with their background relying on secret wars to give them that edge, which is far less believable for someone who is supposed to be a run of the mill American.epobirshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15584564334924010440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47094317058211085852010-10-02T19:43:23.568-07:002010-10-02T19:43:23.568-07:00"Dude is seriously risking it."
That..."Dude is seriously risking it."<br /><br />That's what I was thinking. These seats weren't exclusive at all. There were regular people all around them.<br /><br />But thaey timed it well. A minute or so before U2 came on, there was a ripple throught the crowd and everyone was pointing in his direction. Then U2 came on and everyone forgot about him. <br /><br /><br /> I looked over a few times, He was dancing like a white guy, but Melinda was really grooving. <br /><br />I read later that Bono stayed at their house that night. What pissed me off is that he probably got those tickets for free.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233253688416110011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19282163709159532202010-10-02T12:23:27.021-07:002010-10-02T12:23:27.021-07:00"Greg said...
There was no security arou..."Greg said...<br /><br /> There was no security around him at the U2 concert- just his wife and it loked like- guys from the office. No beefy guys. They sat in thier seats about a minute before U2 came out and left before the last encore."<br /><br />It's possible that there were some security guys seated about him, unassuming like. Reputedly, he has his own security force made up of former special forces operators (SEALS, Israeli Commandos, etc.).Mr. Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-3177138803228641782010-10-02T08:02:38.533-07:002010-10-02T08:02:38.533-07:00You can't write a post about Bill Gates withou...You can't write a post about Bill Gates without the bitter Apple and Linux nerds crawling out of the woodwork.Udolpho.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12976984423336975944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51198152430237680302010-10-01T23:30:08.092-07:002010-10-01T23:30:08.092-07:00There was no security around him at the U2 concert...<i>There was no security around him at the U2 concert- just his wife and it loked like- guys from the office. No beefy guys. They sat in thier seats about a minute before U2 came out and left before the last encore. <br /><br />They were expensive seats near the stage. Bono just mentioned that "Bill and Melinda Gates were in the house."</i> <br /><br />Yikes.<br /><br />Dude is seriously risking it.<br /><br />That strikes me as more dangerous than Paul Newman dabbling in car racing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-55407266558023004632010-10-01T21:01:11.943-07:002010-10-01T21:01:11.943-07:00There was no security around him at the U2 concert...There was no security around him at the U2 concert- just his wife and it loked like- guys from the office. No beefy guys. They sat in thier seats about a minute before U2 came out and left before the last encore. <br /><br />They were expensive seats near the stage. Bono just mentioned that "Bill and Melinda Gates were in the house."Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233253688416110011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10779613172535172042010-10-01T20:52:31.810-07:002010-10-01T20:52:31.810-07:00But don't you see? Demographic change is the m...<i>But don't you see? Demographic change is the most significant of all.</i> <br /><br />Right - that's my point [and, I imagine, both Murray and Derbyshire would argue that it would be their point as well] - things just aren't getting noticeably better anymore.<br /><br />Sure, we may have improved, from 28.8kbps POTS dial-up connections at Compuserve, in 1990, to 512kbs "broadband" TCP/IP connections to iSteve, in 2010, but the basic underlying ideas are the same.<br /><br />And in 2010, we may now have hundreds of channels on DirecTV or Dish Network, but in 1990, we had at least tens of channels on the old Galaxy C-Band satellites.<br /><br />And modulo a few "MIME" standards, TCP/IP email hasn't changed at all in twenty years.<br /><br />I'm just not seeing any big qualitative improvements between 1990 and 2010.<br /><br />Heck, foreign-policy-wise, we've basically been in Iraq and/or Kuwait for 20 straight years now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-40154332986866837862010-10-01T10:47:16.313-07:002010-10-01T10:47:16.313-07:00Second, the more decent and intelligent sort of ve...<i>Second, the more decent and intelligent sort of very wealthy person tends to have an acute awareness of how extremely different their means are from others, and just how much luck was involved in the accumulation (i.e. a LOT). Call it guilt or compensation or whatever, but this effect should not be underestimated as an ideological motivator.</i><br /><br />Michael Medved theorizes that that very thing is what's behind the liberalism of so many successful actors.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-19295488305646117992010-10-01T06:33:11.769-07:002010-10-01T06:33:11.769-07:00"But I just ain't seeing how things have ..."But I just ain't seeing how things have changed all that much since about 1990 - the world still feels largely the same to me [other than maybe the horrifying spectre of dysgenic fertility, which can be attested to by anyone in 2010 who has watched a public school bus unload its passengers, or who has seen a public school class on a field trip in a museum/zoo/aquarium]."<br /><br />But don't you see? Demographic change is the most significant of all.CC-bLFnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-52793517043596977772010-10-01T05:21:20.503-07:002010-10-01T05:21:20.503-07:00A reader: Bill and Melinda Gates... in Fairbanks ...<b>A reader:</b> <i> Bill and Melinda Gates... in Fairbanks Ranch [a gated community in northern San Diego County next to Rancho Santa Fe]... They went to the local cinema... They patronized the best coffee shop...</i> <br /><br /><b>Greg:</b> <i>I saw Gates at a U2 concert in Seattle in 2005. He was really getting into it, albeit awkwardly. <br />And his wife is a babe.</i> <br /><br />At the risk of endangering the guy's personal safety, is he surrounded by four or five CIA/Special Forces/USMC-looking dudes, wearing bulky jackets [which conceal their bullet-proof vests and their Uzis], with dark sunglasses & earpieces, and who constantly bow their heads to talk into their sleeves while they glance around themselves furtively?<br /><br />I just can't imagine being worth $30B/$40B/$50B/$60B/$WhateverB and not being surrounded by security guards.<br /><br />Heck, if I were Gates, I'd be wearing a vest myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10405234132945640042010-10-01T00:13:46.950-07:002010-10-01T00:13:46.950-07:00I saw Gates at a U2 concert in Seattle in 2005. He...I saw Gates at a U2 concert in Seattle in 2005. He was really getting into it, albeit awkwardly. <br />And his wife is a babe.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233253688416110011noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-10997250803518857882010-09-30T20:20:22.999-07:002010-09-30T20:20:22.999-07:00However my perception of this was that she probabl...<i>However my perception of this was that she probably thought is was less 'demeaning' for a black woman to sit on her fat duff in some housing project, collecting welfare, than it was for her to scrub floors and make beds for white people.</i> <br /><br />Or else she knew that tens of millions of them sitting on their duffs would push our entire society into insolvency and destroy our civilization.<br /><br />Which was precisely the purpose of her nihilism in the first place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-64959327721684823182010-09-30T20:16:35.905-07:002010-09-30T20:16:35.905-07:00Anyone who claims that strikes me as either seriou...<i>Anyone who claims that strikes me as either seriously young or seriously old.</i> <br /><br />Sorry, but I'm just not buying it.<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prodigy_(online_service)" rel="nofollow">According to Wikipedia</a>, Prodigy had 465,000 subscribers in 1990, and CompuServe had 600,000 [and I'm pretty sure that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CompuServe#Technology" rel="nofollow">CompuServe even had "chat" by then</a>].<br /><br />And I can assure you from personal experience that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT" rel="nofollow">anyone who had a NeXTStation in 1990</a> already knew exactly how the next 20 years of computing technology would look and sound.<br /><br />Now I have strong, clear memories of the 1970s [and even some vague memories of the 1960s], and I will grant you that there were ENORMOUS differences between the 1970s and the 1980s.<br /><br />But I just ain't seeing how things have changed all that much since about 1990 - the world still feels largely the same to me [other than maybe the horrifying spectre of dysgenic fertility, which can be attested to by anyone in 2010 who has watched a public school bus unload its passengers, or who has seen a public school class on a field trip in a museum/zoo/aquarium].Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-14482603891976633952010-09-30T16:16:55.899-07:002010-09-30T16:16:55.899-07:00The "Gilded Age" is somewhat misrepresen...The "Gilded Age" is somewhat misrepresented in a number of the above comments.<br /><br />The plutocrats of the late nineteenth century tried to pattern their lives on those of the European aristocracy. The grand houses, liveried servants, debutante balls, and all the rest were copies - perhaps not always ringing true, but many came very close. The Social Register was a sort of knock-off of Burke's, Debrett, or the Almanach de Gotha. <br /><br />Many of the "robber barons" who founded family fortunes were unpolished characters. John D. Rockefeller, Sr., or Cornelius Vanderbilt, are illustrations of this type. Others (J.P. Morgan, Sr.) were educated and refined. In any event, the rough edges were gone after two or three generations. It is an ancient observation that a man who has attained wealth may have attained the "port of gentility," but three generations of gracious living are necessary to make a gentleman of the blood. Heraldry in some countries reflects this; in Spain, for example, a special helm is reserved for use by "hidalgos of three generations."<br /><br />Personally, I think the rich of 100 years ago had a better time than their contemporaries do today. It's an interesting exercise to compare Lucius Beebe's "The Big Spenders" (a great read) with the David Brooks book mentioned earlier, "Bobos in Paradise." Bobos - up to and including Bill Gates - seem to me to have rather wan and meagre lives compared (say) to Pierpont Morgan or August Belmont. <br /><br />As for having servants and dressing for dinner - these were far more widespread phenomena than have been acknowledged. Not only great tycoons, but the modestly prosperous - successful professional men, or small-town mill owners and bankers, routinely did both. My father, who began university studies in 1939, went off to school with a dinner jacket and boiled shirts in his wardrobe. My paternal grandfather was the publisher of the local newspaper, a business owner but hardly a grandee. <br /><br />Many people of this class had, as recently as my childhood, at least a maid, possibly a cook, or a 'yard man' who took care of the lawns, gardens, and the exterior of the house. I speculate that most of the persons then employed at such work would be on the dole today. Wages-and-hours laws, mandated employee benefits, the withholding of taxes from their pay, workers' compensation insurance, and the recordkeeping and filing of innumerable government forms have made the employment of household staff beyond the reach of the merely affluent today - that is, unless they are illegal immigrants paid cash "on the q.t." <br /><br />Back in the '60s, as an adolescent, I was slightly acquainted (through her children) with a stridently liberal upper-middle class woman who boasted that when she visited the houses of her peers who had negro maids, she attempted to subvert the relationship between mistress and servant by passing out 'civil rights' information to the maids and trying to get them to skip work to participate in demonstrations, etc. <br /><br />I never knew how successful she was at this, because she did not live in my community. However my perception of this was that she probably thought is was less 'demeaning' for a black woman to sit on her fat duff in some housing project, collecting welfare, than it was for her to scrub floors and make beds for white people. Even then this seemed topsy-turvy to me- wouldn't it be more demeaning to take money for doing nothing, than to earn some sort of living, however modest, doing honest work, however humble? Yet it seems to me that the view of my school-fellows' liberal mother has prevailed, and we are all bearing the costs of it today.Mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-50231490806129692692010-09-30T16:05:09.511-07:002010-09-30T16:05:09.511-07:00But I just ain't seeing all that big a differe...<i><br />But I just ain't seeing all that big a difference between 1990 and 2010.<br /></i><br /><br />Anyone who claims that strikes me as either seriously young or seriously old. Here's a run-down of the major diffs:<br /><br />* Cold War still on (duh) with no guarantee Ruskie generals won't go out in a hail of ICBM-delivered glory<br />* California still viable for the GOP<br />* South still viable for Democrats<br />* rock'n'roll still THE major popular musical form, not yet a niche form<br />* rap still a niche musical form, not yet THE major popular musical form<br />* MTV still airs music videos<br />* "bitch", "ass", still cuss words; cannot be spoken on network TV<br />* AIDs still believed to be something other than a gay disease; predictions of the "end of sex"<br />* cars built as if the 70's oil crisis still on; top-of-the-line Corvette pulls down less horses than today's Toyota Camry<br />* fear of Japan buying up the world? Credible! China the future factory of the world? Incredible!<br />* Wall Street still richer than Silicon Valley<br />* Arab terrorism (much of it by Palestinian "Christians") more prominent than Muslim terrorism<br />* feminism still a viable force in the culture wars; abortion, sexual harassment top-shelf political issues<br />* masturbation still taboo<br />* oral sex considered more intimate than vaginal sexgreenrivervalleymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10800061625385072407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-76903983443687701992010-09-30T14:33:11.343-07:002010-09-30T14:33:11.343-07:00What do we have now that we didn't have back i...<i>What do we have now that we didn't have back in 1990 - a GUI sitting atop the ideas which we used to call FTP and Telnet, which, when combined with Adobe Flash or Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight, gives us what - streaming digital television?</i><br /><br />I can't tell if you're joking or not, so forgive me if the sarcasm flew over my head.<br /><br />That said, are you kidding? I can think of two things that have utterly changed the way ordinary people live their day-to-day lives: ubiquitous cell phones and, obviously, the internet. <br /><br />Our lives today are very different from the lives we led 20 years ago. The only comparable change in recent history is the rapid diffusion of automobiles and mass media (radio and movies) in the 1920-1940 period. Like those changes, the technological revolution of the 90s and 00s has made a new society, as different from the one that came before it as the world of 1940 was different from that of 1910.Steve Woodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-315952125413900222010-09-30T13:46:51.700-07:002010-09-30T13:46:51.700-07:00Bill Gates has a multi million dollar dungeon in h...Bill Gates has a multi million dollar dungeon in his basement? I've never heard that one before. I did a Google search and came up dry on Bill Gates, S&M, house, dungeon, sadism, sadomasochism etc.<br /><br />I found that Kinsey claimed that 22%of American men had some sadomasochism tendencies. I don't believe that one either.<br /><br />One of the Wachowski brothers (of Matrix fame) is known to be into S&M but otherwise there are not many celebrities who have been identified with kink. I think such an identity would be almost impossible to hide today. <br /><br />OTOH many considered Bill Gates to have murdered Gary Kildall. <br /><br />Kildall went out flying the day IBM showed up in the market for an OS for their new machine the IBM PC. In frustration they went north and met with Gates who was only too eager to sell them an operating system that he didn't even own at the time. <br /><br />Poor Gary went into a tailspin became depressed and suicidal. He began acting erratically and got himself killed in a biker bar.<br /><br />Lots of CP/M users still blame Gates. It's always been fun to demonize Gates. <br /><br />AlbertosaurusAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9992967268955066312010-09-30T13:38:32.371-07:002010-09-30T13:38:32.371-07:00"His face and name are instantly recognizable...<b>"His face and name are instantly recognizable (at least to the segment of the population with whom he comes into contact) and his wealth and power are vast. Thus, regardless of his personal habits and demeanor, his fame inevitably precedes him and sets a tone as effectively as any courtier of old did for his king."</b><br /><br />This is an interesting point. The powerful of pre-modern times needed ways to signal their importance to the people around them, since their faces were not generally well-known due to the absence of photography and television.<br /><br />The powerful today have their visages broadcast so often that they are identifiable on sight by millions who have never met them.<br /><br /><b>"and a roaring stock market [thanks to a GOP Congress which slashed the Capital Gains tax rate]."</b><br /><br />The roaring stock market was roaring before the cap gains cuts took effect, thanks to the widespread adoption of GUI technology via Windows 95 which enabled the adoption of the internet, made accessible by Netscape Navigator, and which made computing technology accessible ans useful to more people than ever before. The internet/tech boom would've happened either way.Wilsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51798451379719292672010-09-30T10:01:17.693-07:002010-09-30T10:01:17.693-07:00...On the other hand, by 1990 I was an adult, so o...<i><b>...On the other hand, by 1990 I was an adult, so of course it seems like just yesterday. I'm remembering the events of that year from an adult perspective, the same perspective with which I experienced them.</b> <br /><br />I get the same feeling watching current episodes of Mad Men - that in the mid-1960s, WWII [i.e. the mid-1940s] must have already seemed like it was an eternity ago.<br /><br /><b>To me at the time, yes. To my parents, who were in their 20s in the 1940s, not at all...</b> </i> <br /><br />Sorry, I gotta demur.<br /><br />I'd definitely agree that, say, 1979, with polyester pants and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devo#1975.E2.80.931980" rel="nofollow">Devo</a> and the Carter Malaise was vastly different than 1999, with Monica Lewinsky and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livin%27_la_Vida_Loca" rel="nofollow">Ricky Martin</a>/<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mambo_No._5#Lou_Bega_version" rel="nofollow">Lou Bega</a> and a roaring stock market [thanks to a GOP Congress which slashed the Capital Gains tax rate].<br /><br />But I just ain't seeing all that big a difference between 1990 and 2010.<br /><br />What do we have now that we didn't have back in 1990 - a GUI sitting atop the ideas which we used to call FTP and Telnet, which, when combined with Adobe Flash or Apple Quicktime or Microsoft Silverlight, gives us what - streaming digital television?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70404396854895994852010-09-30T08:07:22.950-07:002010-09-30T08:07:22.950-07:00travis said..."Indeed, the Robber Barons were...travis said..."Indeed, the Robber Barons were such pretentious vulgarians a new word, shoddy, had to be found to describe them. Gates' non-style, in comparison, is much more bearable."<br /><br />Maybe to you, not to me. What you call Gates's "non-style", I would call pretentiously unpretentious. You can't tell me he can walk into any room and not be the person to whom others defer. His face and name are instantly recognizable (at least to the segment of the population with whom he comes into contact) and his wealth and power are vast. Thus, regardless of his personal habits and demeanor, his fame inevitably precedes him and sets a tone as effectively as any courtier of old did for his king. Gates would have to be oblivious in the extreme not to see that.<br /><br />I grant his "non-style" is probably not forced, probably just a natural extension of who he really is. But the fact that in pretty much any and all circumstances, he can afford to be his true low-key, slightly disheveled self indicates a degree of luxury available only to the very rich. <br /><br />I, too, loathe the vulgarity of the Gilded Age. But Gates differs from them essentially in style, not substance. They stockpiled the goodies, he stockpiles the good works. Giving so many millions to reading or mosquito nets or whatever is just as ostentatious in its way as buying the contents of English country houses and importing marble floors and frescoed ceilings from Europe to adorn your "cottage" at Newport.<br /><br />And frankly, I prefer the Robber Barons's legacy of beautiful homes and artwork for the rest of us to enjoy; I think Gates's do-gooding* will leave a legacy open to debate as to its ultimate value.<br /><br /><br />*No, I <i>don't</i> mean I think reading should be only for the privileged few or that I have no problem with wee ones dying of malaria. I have reservations about his methods, not about his goals. Life sure was simpler when I could post here without adding all sorts of addenda to head off the trolls.Kylienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51062013413088400302010-09-30T07:48:22.899-07:002010-09-30T07:48:22.899-07:00It is less of a hassle being poor now.
If the Je...It is less of a hassle being poor now. <br /><br />If the Jeves stories are to be believed a butler or gentleman's gentleman, then did most of what a personal assistant does now.neil craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09157898238945726349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-79151918427329295752010-09-29T22:53:51.542-07:002010-09-29T22:53:51.542-07:00"This layman disagrees. I'd have much rat...<b>"This layman disagrees. I'd have much rather seen two major OSes duke it out. Competition would've done Windows a hell of a lot of good."</b><br /><br />Instead, he focused on abusing that monopoly to squeeze out competitors in other segments of the industry, like applications. A single OS might be a "natural monopoly," but not a single spreadsheet, word processor, or database. Think how stable and reliable Windows might be if Microsoft had spent more of its time focused on improving Windows.<br /><br />Oh, and did he ever actually admit that Windows was in fact a monopoly?<br /><br />But speaking of competitors and what it cost to be Bill Gates, I'm acquainted with a man who made hundreds of millions before his company was crushed by Gates. He doesn't even qualify for the Forbes 400 (anymore), but just one of his several homes (he owns at least 3) has a staff of about 30.<br /><br />These people have butlers, maids, chefs, groundskeepers, accountants, lawyers, and pilots at their beck and call. Every home has a full-time caretaker, at least, even when the boss is away. Chauffeurs? Why waste 2 hours or so a day driving when you could be on the phone cutting deals? A chauffeur saves you more time than a maid or gardener would for someone with an average-sized home.<br /><br />If the people who work full-time to manage Bill Gates' affairs, his properties, and attend to his every need number any less than 100 I'd be very, very surprised. Even averaging $100G each that would cost him "only" $10 million a year.<br /><br />As for why the rich don't put on a show anymore, can you just imagine some guy in a three piece suit, top hat and cane stepping out of his Rolls-Royce while Jeeves holds the door? The West today is so dressed down, and America so egalitarian, that he'd attract lots of laughs, even more venom, but very little respect, which is mostly what he wants anyway.<br /><br /><b>"20 of the 44 million Gates spent on his primary residence was dedicated to S&M dungeons- that's a fact that the lib media WILL NOT REPORT"</b><br /><br />If this is true then I think more highly of Bill than I did before.<br /><br /><b>"Someone with a tendency to be a jerk gets a billion dollars? They become King A$$hole of the Universe. Someone who is generally pleasant and tractable gets a billion dollars? They become one of the most wonderful people you will ever have the good fortune to meet."</b><br /><br />Perhaps, but aside from heirs and heiresses, almost no one "accidentally" becomes a billionaire. They become one by caring about money, and by making sure they get their share, and usually more. So that's one personality trait they all have in common, however else their characters might diverge. The most prominent billionaire in my neck of the woods purports to be devoutly religious, and puts on a very nice public face, but behind the scenes he's giving money to politicians right, left and center, to buy access wherever he needs it. These politicians almost all, not-so-coincidentally, belong to the same party: the Incumbent Party.Wilsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-3867047968937881892010-09-29T22:01:43.850-07:002010-09-29T22:01:43.850-07:00Neither wearing a suit and tie to dinner nor hirin...<i>Neither wearing a suit and tie to dinner nor hiring 'help' makes one a gentlemen. Indeed, the Robber Barons were such pretentious vulgarians a new word, shoddy, had to be found to describe them. Gates' non-style, in comparison, is much more bearable.</i><br /><br />I never knew that about "shoddy." Thank you! In response to your point, though, I'd say that on the whole I'd rather have my vulgarians be flashy and amusing. There's nothing worse than phony humility.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-44201404697758949932010-09-29T21:33:58.246-07:002010-09-29T21:33:58.246-07:00Anonymous @ #27 said...
There are a few reasons I...Anonymous @ #27 said...<br /><br /><i>There are a few reasons I suspect the very wealthy are so overwhelmingly Liberal in political orientation.</i><br /><br />These are all good reasons. To sum them up: liberalism is the ideology of social progress through individual autonomy. Preeminently through educational effort and occupational merit. <br /><br />So liberalism is really the ideology of the educated middle class. The class which overwhelmingly produces New Rich.<br /><br />If you are an intelligent autonomous individual operating in a liberal social framework who happens to be successful then its natural to conclude that the liberal social system is a good one. Particularly if that success seems to be fairly widely spread and correlated with likewise capable individuals.<br /><br />That is one reason why the genetics of IQ are so toxic to the liberal middle class. If it were the case that intellectual capacity was largely the result of genetic lottery well then the notion of individual merit becomes much less plausible.<br /><br />So liberalism is the ideology of the upwardly mobile middle class. Most people can agree thats a pretty good thing, at least until the past 20 years or so.<br /><br />The only problem is that there are limits to liberalism, and it is approaching its point of ideological exhaustion. Nowadays liberalism is more like a licence for free-for-all amongst both the under-class and the over-class. Never more clearly seen than in the GFC which saw Greater Fools and Masters of the Universe coupled to almost bring the house down.<br /><br />New Left cultural liberalism licences the excesses of the under-class. New Right financial liberalism licences the excesses of the over-class. Combine them together and we get USA Today.jack strocchihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17534084770633227131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-35566716296994686732010-09-29T21:20:59.013-07:002010-09-29T21:20:59.013-07:00Gates net worth is $54B dollars, so $150M dollars ...Gates net worth is $54B dollars, so $150M dollars is 1/360th of that, and that's just the stock he owns now, not counting all the stock Gates had already cashed out during the late 80's and 90's. I don't imagine Gates is very political at all, he's certainly not a big "L" liberal like a lot of second, third, and fourth generation family billionaires are. Gates' interest in education I imagine is being driven by his wife and it's just politically centrist enough not to make waves, as opposed to interest in the environment or health care which are quickly hijacked by those with a far-left agenda, as Larry Ellison discovered when he wanted to give Harvard a pile of money for health research, but then pulled the plug when Harvard forced out Larry Summers. <br /><br />Regarding his contributions to the U of Washington, I do recall hearing that he was instrumental in luring away a top molecular biologist from Cal Tech to Washington in the 90's by giving him his own state of the art lab. Later his catch left because he felt the university was insufficiently ambitious. He created his own non-profit private research lab in Seattle so my guess is that Gates and his fellow MS billionaires might have had a hand in financing that, although I don't know for sure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com