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Comment by microtherion | Hacker News Reader

I suspect the former; that standards applied in various countries differ.

E.g. the oldest "company" in Switzerland is Gasthof Sternen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasthof_Sternen), built around 1230, and affiliated with a monastery. Quite possibly the inn WAS in continuous operation, but I have doubts as to the continuity of the "company" behind it. It appears to have been started by the adjacent monastery, which ceased to be a going concern in 1841.

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for example Café M’Rabet – Tunis was created in 1630 and it is still operational till now. But it was not registered as a company at the time.

But do you seriously reckon all those European businesses from the 800s were registered as a company?

This map is nothing but a racist pissing match created by enlightened Europeans who've worked out some novel way of considering them better than the civilisations they trashed. It's an embarrassment.

is it that? or is it just a mildly interesting, if factually incorrect infographic? youve made a mental leap to racism there which is quite unfair

Not the person you are replying to, but: I don't think anyone set out to create an intentionally racist map. But the effect can still be racist. If it's based on data-sources and concepts that have a Europe and Europe descendent focus, and then presents them as facts about the world, without acknowledging the perspective, that is problematic. If further the tenuous continuity claims in some European countries, that are little more than advertisement, are put side to side with much stricter formal registration data from other countries this starts being quite deliberate.

Can you give some pointers as to what data / sources / criteria would make for a more fair representation?

lol

I wondered about that - perhaps the map should be "Oldest business registered with a western institution" or some such. Meaning, being known to westerners makes them more real.

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