[aksss]

corporate overlords? These are the state governments selling your data. The call is coming from inside the house. The sooner we realize that government is comprised of the same slithering slime of human greed and laziness, the more realistic discussions we can have.

[DangitBobby]

It's not even remotely the same scale. At least the government ostensibly has its incentives aligned with the public. False equivance gets us further from where we need to by focusing people on the wrong problems.

[aksss]

"Ostensibly" is the mistake in your formula. Current events are replete with examples to the contrary. It's not equivocating to recognize that governments are organizations of humans, subject to the same limitations - the larger they get, the harder they are to manage well; talent is incredibly important to success in mission; leadership is incredibly important to integrity, ethics, and strategy; lower oversight and mediocre control structures lead to abuse. You can see the challenges that government as an organization has there. And as to scale..? Son. At least you can "ostensibly" choose whether or not to interact with corporations unless they are colluding with... government.

[DangitBobby]

Consider the bulk of your comment to be directed similarly as criticism to corporations, minus effective correction mechanism, plus direct incentive to extract as much wealth as possible by providing as little value as possible.

[aksss]

Which isn’t to say government is bad as an institution.. just to say that we regard it with an assumption of good faith at our collective peril - it’s track record counsels the opposite.

[DangitBobby]

It would be comical hear this as if you think it contrasts with companies if I didn't know you believed it. The very "slime" that leads to the government doing these things accumulates at the behest of the entities you're defending.