29 May
3:22pm, 29 May 2025
27,436 posts
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larkim
Agree, we're not going to agree on this. I certainly don't buy the first example as it was before the election; the worst I can see about that is that it is Bezos sucking up to Trump and preventing a WP endorsement for Harris. And the second example is Trump bluster; no evidence there that Zuckerberg senses any "fear" from that.
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29 May
3:35pm, 29 May 2025
47,869 posts
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SPR
You think that because it was before the election it's not a sign of fear. Makes zero sense. The point is he thinks there will consequences if they endorsed Harris and Trump won. In an American society that continually talks about how valuable free speech is, it's clearly against standard values especially for the press and is motivated by the threat of unreasonable consequences. Not sure how that's described as anything other than fear. Facebook fact checking has now changed with a craven statement put out by them and quite a bit of money flowing to Trump. |
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29 May
4:52pm, 29 May 2025
27,437 posts
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larkim
I think the problem is we're conflating acts which we don't like with responses we don't like due to fear. Why did Bezos shut down WP presidential endorsements? Is it because that feathered his nest better, or is it because if he didn't he was fearful about the consequences for him? |
29 May
4:55pm, 29 May 2025
18,807 posts
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jda
You're right, he wasn't going to be turfed out onto the streets and starve to death, and he doesn't fear for his life. You win.
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29 May
6:21pm, 29 May 2025
47,870 posts
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SPR
It's not about actions I don't like. I'm quite happy for an employer to fear prosecution if they don't pay the minimum wage and therefore fulfil their legal obligation (clearly them doing it because it's the right thing to do because fear is better). Bezos suffered consequences under the first administration when and now there doesn't seem to be anyone that would hold them back in office. The point is the WP is supposed to be editorial independent, they made a big thing of it. Whether it was fear or benefit it really doesn't matter as they are two sides of the same coin for people that have the power to fight back and tolerate the consequences. |
30 May
9:11am, 30 May 2025
22,935 posts
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Chrisull
Meanwhile Trump sneaks the word "remigration" (white supremacist speak) into his latest speech. Sigh
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30 May
9:37am, 30 May 2025
27,438 posts
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larkim
jda wrote: You're right, he wasn't going to be turfed out onto the streets and starve to death, and he doesn't fear for his life. You win. You know that's not what I'm saying. There are people in the political sphere or worked for the previous administration who are in genuine fear of Trump because he can (and has) taken away their livelihoods, put them in the firing line for federal prosecution etc etc. Then there are the billionaire business leaders like Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg etc who we routinely characterise as being out solely to enrich themselves and gain power and influence, and will do whatever it takes to achieve that. Trump's second term for them brings opportunity and challenges to overcome in them achieving their goals. So yes, of course, it is possible that Trump does things which they forecast for themselves will reduce their power / influence or impact their wealth; and so as a consequence they react to protect those interests, or even enhance them. None of that is the same as "hurt" or represents them doing things from a position of fear. Now, further down the foodchain there are small and medium sized business owners who do "fear" Trump because they don't have the existing position or influence to be able to react to what Trump does. But at the top in the billionaire stratospehere; nah, fear is not what's in play. If Trump is actually "intelligent" or tactically creative, of course he will be able to do things which manipulate their desire for power and riches which will align with his strategies; though given that most of us here don't think he has that "4d chess" level of capability, the more realistic position is that some things he does will be influenced by the billionaires (because most of them *are* more capable of that shrewdness) and some things he does they will simply have to (and be able to) react to, knowing that his tenure is relatively short lived compared to their positions. |
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30 May
9:40am, 30 May 2025
22,937 posts
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Chrisull
But the use of some of his phrases like "remigration" suggests he isn't always just randomly spouting crap: huffingtonpost.co.uk He's quite clearly signalling to the worst people, "I'm on your side". |
30 May
9:49am, 30 May 2025
52,909 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Corporations are *very* concerned about any changes in regulations, including taxation, tariffs, legal obligations etc because it costs the company a lot of money to react to those changes. So in that sense they do "fear" a government making changes (esp the ones that are clearly detrimental to them). Whether the individuals with major share ownership of those companies have fear, I would say yes, definitely. Rich and powerful people fear anything that reduces their wealth and power. Even if only temporarily. So I suspect Trump scares the sh*t out of them actually.  G
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30 May
9:55am, 30 May 2025
27,439 posts
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larkim
He's being fed those words to use, or picking up on them simplistically from the sorts of RW sources he favours and re-using them. It's not unintentional, that's for sure. But whether he grasps the full impact of them, or the perception of them from opponents? He's not a full on white supremacist (or at least, I don't think he is), though he is of course very happy to have support from those.
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