Comment by deviantbit | Hacker News Reader

Comment by deviantbit | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

Don't kid yourself, this is being weaponized. Anytime the government does anything, it is not to help you or me.

It will be used in ways not intended. The Sherman Act has been used by many politicians to go after their political advisories.

If the FTC wants to do this, then they need to go after the banks for their anticompetitive practices. How about Apple?

In the 90s, Janet Reno went after Bill Gates. It wasn't because of the browser in Windows. It was a result of Microsoft's reach into Congress, helping turn Congress over to the Republicans. Microsoft's execs didn't want the tax increases that were coming, so they went all in for Republicans. After the election, Reno directed the DOJ to prosecute M$. What a circus that was to see. Then, you know what really hit the fan, Microsoft backed Dave Stirling in California. Democrats were going to do anything they could to destroy M$.

Can you imagine someone going after Google, or Apple, because they won't let others put software on their devices? How anticompetitive is the Apple Store? Can I please remove Chrome off my Chromebook, and use Firefox? Google and Apple donate heavily to Democrats, as does Microsoft today. You're not going to see it used where it needs to be, related to technology, IMHO.

I'm not picking on Democrats, there are plenty of anticompetitive right leaning companies as well (The Banks, Oil & Gas Industry, Agriculture...).

> Anytime the government does anything, it is not to help you or me.

So you believe the government is entirely a self-serving, wholly corrupt organization, that does nothing to help the people?

This is an extraordinary claim, and requires extraordinary proof.

Or are you assuming that everyone here is among the moneyed elite, and claiming that the government's actions are directed at reducing the power of that class to benefit the common people?

That would be much closer to the truth, but is certainly nowhere near as absolute as you make it sound.

Whatever your intent here, the absolutism you display makes your statement patently false to anyone who has any real understanding of how governments—or, indeed, nearly any large organization—work.

The dastardly National Parks system! (I’m also pretty happy with the FAA, Library of Congress, NOAA, NIH, NSF, etc)

>Anytime the government does anything, it is not to help you or me.

This is a Regan Republican era talking point. Government is supposed to work for the people but for the last 40 years it has been used as a boogieman to push agendas which are actively not in the interest of the people.

In the US much harm has been done by under staffing and purposely slashing budgets of organizations that benefit the people. The amplification of "government doesn't help" comes from those regulated by the government. OSHA enforcing safe working environments? "Government meddling in my business driving my costs up!" IRS auditing, catching tax cheats, and closing loopholes? "Government stealing my hard earned profits!" Look at the attacks on the EPA since they are trying to protect vulnerable waterways that property developers want exploit and manufactures want to dump into.

So let's fund and staff the FTC and let it go after all of them. We need government in our corner going after the Banks, Big Tech, Oil, Commercial Agriculture, Pharma, etc.

The narrative needs to change so we aren't dealing with these issues in a reactive way.

fyi, arguments become immediately less convincing when they include "m$"

(or make a lot of politically one sided claims without citation)

> fyi, arguments become immediately less convincing when they include "m$"

OK... but deviantbit's comment clearly presents Microsoft as the victim of corrupt government officials, which isn't really compatible with calling it M$. It seems more likely that the use of M$ in "Democrats were going to do anything they could to destroy M$" is to present M$ as a label given to Microsoft by the Democrats in order to make it easier to attack. He's trying to tell you that arguments based on the epithet "M$" are or should be unconvincing.

M$ was what Democrats would call Microsoft to demonize them. Just as Biden is demonizing the oil industry. Biden mocked the entire oil industry for making $100 billion dollars. Yet, Apple made $155 billion in 2021.

No democrat has asked Apple to turn those profits over, or wanted a wind fall tax. Why? Apple donates heavily to Democrats, and this is why you will never see an anti-trust suite.

You can be upset with this, but that is reality.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com