[lenerdenator]

And that's what the Larry Ellisons of the world want.

One of the bigger lies ever told is that free-market economies help democratize nations. They don't. If they did, we would have made massive investments in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Marxist-Leninist governments there. Instead we decided to invest in China and, later, Vietnam, among others. These are two very non-democratic nations.

Why did we do that, especially after the Tiananmen Square Massacre? Because it better fit the needs of capital. The last thing they wanted was to set up shop in a bunch of countries where the people had organized against authoritarian regimes for change. If they can get rid of the likes of Ceaușescu and Honecker despite their brutality, they could certainly do things like strike for better working conditions and a greater share of their employers' earnings.

Ellison's just another in a long line of guys with far too much money and far too little empathy. If you get out-of-line in a way that financially or politically inconveniences him, he wants you dealt with as severely as possible. China does that, and now he wants that in the US and other Western countries.

[vjvjvjvjghv]

“ far too much money and far too little empathy”

There is the old video about the mistake of anthropomorphizing Ellison. You don’t get angry at a lawn mower either when you stick your hand into it.

[lenerdenator]

> mistake of anthropomorphizing Ellison

That's the problem: we take that story and use it as an excuse to act like he's not a human. "Oh, ol' Larry, he's just a lawnmower". No, he's a person, one who doesn't get enough in the way of negative consequences for the harm he brings to society.

My former employer was bought out by Oracle. I didn't stick my hand in the lawn mower, the lawn mower drove over my hand.

[hollerith]

According to GPT, Poland (my pick because its GDP per cap is about the average for the former Warsaw Pact) received about $10,000 per person in foreign direct investment in recent years whereas during the same period, China received only about $1,900 per person.

[lenerdenator]

> in recent years

How about 25-35 years ago when the wave of globalization truly hit?

[hollerith]

You could look it up yourself. The figures I gave are the total current value of equities (stocks) held by foreign investors (divided by population). Since the value was zero in Poland in 1989 and very very low in China in 1989, GPT thought this would be a good way to estimate cumulative investment from then to now, but GPT also said there are figures available for investment inflows per year going back to 1989 that it could add up if I asked, but it guessed that such a calculation would only show investment into Poland in an even more comparatively favorable light.

https://chatgpt.com/share/6a1f4622-aea4-83e8-838a-0c3ac69b26...

[jrflowers]

>GPT thought

No it didn’t

[dismalaf]

> They don't. If they did, we would have made massive investments in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Marxist-Leninist governments there.

Ummm, what? Have you been to Eastern Europe lately (minus Ukraine, Belarus and Russia)? They're basically the west, except cleaner and less crime-ridden.

[lenerdenator]

That's the wrong takeaway from the post, and I think you know it.

Imagine what those countries would be like if they'd received the investment that the Chinese did 35 years ago.

[dismalaf]

Those countries are all significantly richer per capita than China. Especially somewhere like Czechia, which has already passed several Western European countries in wealth.

How much richer do you think Czechia and Poland would be if they received more FDI in the 90's versus the 00's?

They received way higher investment per person than China did as well.

Also, China has some natural advantages, like being able to employ a ton of ultra cheap labour to engage in nation building projects. While the appearance of China is that of a rich country, they remain significantly poorer per capita than Europe.

[lenerdenator]

> How much richer do you think Czechia and Poland would be if they received more FDI in the 90's versus the 00's?

If capital wasn't authoritarian, we would have found out.