Power corrupts A while ago I read “The internet is not the answer”. About the beginnings of winners take all. Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon are now near monopolies. You need to think about that. Power corrupts. That is the theme of “The four”. A book you should read. Here is my take on the book. The good, the bad and the ugly These four technology giants have inspired more joy, connections, prosperity, and discovery than any entity in history. But they also have refused to pay sales tax, invade privacy, have treated their employees poorly, created lethal addictive behaviour and have destroyed hundreds of thousands of jobs. In a nutshell, the big Four borrow (steal?) your information, only to sell it back to you. Tax Between 2007 and 2015, Amazon paid only 13 per cent of its profits in taxes, Apple paid 17 per cent, Google paid 16 per cent, and Facebook paid just 4 per cent. In contrast, the average tax rate for the S&P 500 was 27 per cent. Market share … [Read more...] about The four. The hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, reviewed
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A Family From High Plains
In a field indistinguishable from the thousands that blanketed the North Carolina countryside, a bead of sweat dripped from O.C. Martin’s chin. It cut through the air, bumping the water particles collected in the dense August morning air, and, for a moment, rested on one of the green leaves gathering at his waist. Then, it burst. The pieces fell to the soil and were soon toppled and mashed by O.C.’s foot. The broken bead was followed by another, then another, until a continuous stream ran the long familiar path from his brow, down along his high cheek bones and just around the dimple that formed when he smiled, before gaining speed on his chin and cascading toward its final destination. The stream continued. The beads, shining from the water and the crystals of salt they were transporting, continued to pass along the brown skin in grooves that had been carved out years before, just as it had shaped the skin of his ancestors. At the time—we’ll call it … [Read more...] about A Family From High Plains