@zachtratar But we can’t rely on billionaires to do the right thing - they essentially become humans with outsized power that were not chosen by the people... Elon and Bill are outliers for their giving and pursuit of problem solving, not the norm

@techladyallison We can't rely on anyone -- or anything -- to always do the right thing. Hence spreading power to more people and more institutions is generally a good thing.

@zachtratar Elon only took on space because the government did the billions and billions of dollars of initial R&D that private industry wasn't doing. Same goes for battery technology. The government funds basic research that is either too costly or too lengthy for private industry to do.

@SciActive True! I'm a big fan of NASA and government funded research, too.

@zachtratar lol. Tell that to polio, smallpox & the space race. Government can do *lots* of great things when the rich aren't busy trying to strangle it. The rich have been looting the world since the days of Reagan and Thatcher, attacking working governments to make them not work as well

@relyt29 And the rich can do a lot of great things, too. The space race has been lost since the early heydays. Sometimes things fail, and you want a separate group/organization to rise from the ashes. A la SpaceX. I agree many rich folks have been looting aggressively.

@zachtratar The masked man is a more dangerous enemy. But in this case, the unmasked man is your friend. Those who put faith into systems and people without economic accountability will soon realize their benevolence is quite malleable.

@DrAdrianGraves There is a good question, though, as to whether or not the richest alive have true "economic accountability".

@zachtratar The only thing I don’t agree with is the “I’m sorry” 😌

@zackhargett I'll just start the next one "To the haters,"

@zachtratar Every problem you mention for Gates is something government did in fact solve first. And then we defunded repeatedly for years because those problems weren't affecting "us" anymore. Elon's entire wheelhouse is made up of tech that came into being after government desolation.

@bravelyjake Mostly agreed.

@zachtratar @finchify Both gates and musk were subsidised or enabled by government actions (inactions in the case of MS) Musk through govt grants tax break as and loans Gates through govt delayed action in bringing anti monopoly Heck even the internet was a govt project Govt isn’t always bad

@scottcarat @finchify I agree!

@zachtratar Twitter dunks incoming...

@zachtratar #YangGang

@zachtratar Don't be sorry when speaking the truth!

@zachtratar i think this graphic puts the equality question into perspective: the origin of the funds matter. Self-made vs. inherited

@zachtratar Mercer family: oligarchy and propaganda