Talia

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @bookstodon ooh, it’s one of those ‘which one doesn’t belong’ puzzles!

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @bookstodon There's so much to dislike about Rand, I'm not sure I could settle on one thing. Ultimately, she's a shallow thinker who didn't have the guts to live with the practical the consequences of her ideas. Weirdly, I do have a mote of respect for her acolyte Alan Greenspan who at least at last admitted that there was a flaw in his model of the world.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @SteveClough @bookstodon Exactly. Socialism for me and the bankers and all the other rich people, but not for anyone else. Always the same.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @SteveClough @bookstodon ... I'm going to suggest to you that a fintech company is not the place to go looking for 'brilliant thinkers', as you go on to show in your comment.

There are a lot of people who can be trained to jump through the hoops and get rewarded by a system that has a very specific place for them. That's not evidence of thought, but of performing well at group think.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @SteveClough @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @bookstodon It's interesting. I'm fine with the concept of fiat money, but I don't think that administration of that system should be rewarded in the way that it is. Bankers are not more talented than people in other professions (and are often demonstrably less so). Salaries in this sector should be restricted. The ability of these people to write their own checks is a huge problem that attracts the most venal people, and not the best.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @SteveClough @bookstodon It's not just that being prosperous stops you thinking about morality, there is experimental research that shows that having more money makes you less honest. Being wealthy enough warps your morals. It makes you immoral.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @SteveClough @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @bookstodon These people should be pariahs.

Talia, 11 months ago

@pivic @Cleopatra @princelysum @sinabhfuil @SteveClough @bookstodon That is why Monopoly - originally called the Landlord's game - was invented. To demonstrate the unfairness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game

Talia, 11 months ago

@raemariz @bookstodon OMG. It's sooo good. I read it years ago and still think of it often. Probably time for a re-read. Enjoy!!

Talia, 11 months ago

@raemariz @bookstodon I think those contrasts are what makes it so powerful. Like the contrast between the two possible futures, it makes the utopia feel so much more precious and fragile

I totally agree with your comments about relevance today, it feels so fresh and prescient