Comments by "David Ford" (@davidford3115) on "Why is there no Silicon Valley in Europe? - VisualPolitik EN" video.

@gebys4559 You realize that most people in the US stopped using asbestos in buildings and cars in the late 80s? And that was driven more because of private company choices rather than government. Indeed, the major reason why asbestos continued to be used was BECAUSE of government intervention. The whole banning part was basically the government telling itself not to use it. So yeah, the Nanny state has NEVER done anything correct, being the biggest aggravating factor in society's problems.
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"Slightly improved" isn't innovation, it is called efficiency. The Japanese in the 1970s and 80s were masters of efficiency. Hell, the fact that they modernized so quickly to become a major military player leading up to WW2 was because of that proclivity for maximizing efficiency. But improving efficiency WILL hit a physical cap. Only recently have the Japanese gone from being masters of efficiency to becoming ACTUAL innovators, particularly in the area of AI.
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And how is that working out for them with the Russian Bear knocking at their door? It is easy to live a life of largess when someone else is paying for your protection.
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Yeah, people don't understand what moderation means. And bureaucrats in particular are drunk on the power they can lord over others via regulation.
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Was the British India Trading Company the downfall of the British Empire? How about the Dutch East India Company (VOC)? Things come in cycles. Those juggernauts will either adapt or die.
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Sure, we have a debt problem, but that has more to do with incompetence in government rather than our economic model. And without business and industry guiding universities, what are they but exercises in mental masturbation? Financial investment by corporations gives them a direction to focus their efforts. The universities can always turn down the sponsorship after all.
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@Fantastika Not really. That is just European Chauvinism and arrogance. Most of the developing world don't really care about European concerns unless it means getting free money in the form of aide. Most of them are more concerned about simply surviving than worrying about First World Problems. And yes, Europe is obsessed with First World problems.
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"You can fire anyone at will." You proud of your ability to ruin people's life on a whim ? Soi let me ask you this, do you want to go through all of the legal challenges to firing unproductive employees? Businesses don't exist to provide you a paycheck, they exist to turn a profit. They are not "adult daycare". Own and operate your own private business and you will quickly change your tune. I suggest starting with a restaurant.
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Lots of quality points that speak to the slow decline of the US, sadly. And you point out places for improvement if only the people in power would admit to those weaknesses.
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Never heard of OSHA have you? Its sole purpose is "worker protection" for all the good it really does. American organized labor means that ""worker protections" are just as strong in the US as they are in Europe.
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Completely out of touch with reality. 90% of the convivences you enjoy today are a direct result of military spending. "Climate migration" is just as first world comforting myth rich people tell themselves so as to feel good about their patronizing and racist behavior.
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The problem with Europe achieving number three is the same as in the past: too many princelings overly concerned with maintaining their fiefdoms rather than doing what is pragmatic. Each country wants personal control over the process rather than setting up a framework where individual nations in the block could buy the equipment, they like from a shared procurement source. Perun has a great video on the basket case that is the German logistical procurement process.
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And yet most European business that directly compete with the US are monopiles. Airbus is a government owned monopoly.
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@USAads2023 Nukes are no replacement for boots on the ground. If you even bother to educate yourself on the use of nukes in a battlefield environment, you NEED infantry to capitalize on the deployment of such a weapon. ALL tactical level employment of nukes is predicated on using infantry as follow-up. There is just no getting around the fact that infantry is the fundamental and critical piece of ANY military. Without it, you can't do anything of value, as we have seen with Russia's lack of enough light infantry to support their tanks and artillery. And as far as turning enemies into friends, well, that is just wishful thinking. Some enemies NEVER want to trade or be your customer.
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@SamSam-qk5zr Because of NATO, duh. Europe fought two world wars because the US chose isolationism instead of interventionism. The US is in Europe because Europe is not responsible enough to NOT start a war that consumes the entire continent. I very much think the US SHOULD completely and unilaterally pull out of Europe. Even more so today seeing as how the Ukrainians in conjunction with the Poles and the Baltic States have taken on the Russians so successfully. But I guarantee you that as soon as the US does, the entirety of the NATO alliance will be begging the US to stay. Think about how quickly the anti-US anti-military protests in South Korea almost completely disappeared when Colin Powell and Donald Rumsfeld went there in 2003 to discuss the complete withdraw of US troops.
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@USAads2023 Wow, lots of word salad but very little on substance. Nothing in that was coherent except for "US is bad".
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Indeed. The story of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand is echoed in the fall of Detroit.
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@-whackd Part of the problem in the US is that vertical integrated supply chains run afoul of the Sherman anti-Trust statutes regarding monopolies. Standard Oil was broken up in part because it had just as much of a vertical monopoly as well as a horizontal one.
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I think you need to reexamine your claim. A US company can be a small as a local game store. There are still more brick and mortar companies than there are virtual ones.
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Depends. Most of the convivences you enjoy are a direct result of military spending. The internet you are using now? Military under DARPA.
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How? In most measures, Europe is VERY liberal, both socially, economically, and politically.
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Indeed. Regulations ALWAYS stifle innovation, no exception. That politician showed how out of touch he or she was with the R&D process.
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Europe with original ideas? Surely you are joking. The last time Europe had an original idea was when Otto von Bismark united Germany.
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Yeah, cutting your nose off despite your face doesn't solve problems, it makes it worse. Just because US companies leave doesn't mean that a viable domestic one will spring up in its place. More likely than not, a government financed replacement with all of the associated nepotism and corruption will replace it.
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@miroslavhoudek7085 "Every GOP administration"? Spare me, the GOP doesn't dismantle government, they merely hold the growth of those ABC agencies where they are at the time they take power. Not ONCE has the GOP EVER disbanded or abolished a single government agency. Not Reagan, nor Trump. And the reason why private sector union membership have collapsed is because of the corruption. Those organizations have become more concerned about power than actually serving their members. What happens when you achieve all of the stated goals? Does the organization fade into obscurity? No, they find another reason to justify their existence. If they don't have one, they make one up.
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@brunolima7402 Considering that most Italians think they are too good to make Pizza, it is actually Libyan chefs in Italy catering to American tourists who make the pizzas there.
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Wow, listening to propaganda again huh? The media lied about everything he said. Inject bleach? Completely fabricated.
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I would agree with you on South Korea. Not so much on China. Even the Chinese themselves will admit to you that their "national skill" is copying, plagiarizing, and reverse engineering.
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@AizenVonKleiss Yeah, Japan's problems today are very much in large part a result of their titanic rise. Much like with WW2, they advanced rapidly only to be undone by their own hubris, resulting in the "Lost Decade" and the collapse of their workforce. Yes, Japan has great potential, but they need to find a way to moderate the excesses that have led to unproductive behaviors.
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And yet those very same proposals have resulted in the US beating out Europe every time. President John F. Kennedy pointed out that both taxation and regulation take away resources better used on research and development. But ignore his warnings all you want.
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Europe is regressing into the very same cesspool that colonists to the new world fled from. Look into why people left Europe in the 1700 and 1800s and you will see a similar pattern developing.
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Microchips are made almost exclusively in Taiwan.
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@Fantastika I seriously doubt that the Taiwanese would only source that from a single supplier. If that was truly the case, Red China would not be so focused about capturing the microchip foundries on Formosa intact when the opposition can simply cut the supply lines for them from Europe. Think about their Achillies Heel regarding oil and the Strait of Malacca, and then remember that the Suez Canal as a second choke point makes it even worse.
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@Fantastika Again, I just don't believe you. I have a sneaking suspicion that there ARE other sources, it is just that they don't have the market dominance that Holland has. Having 80% of the market doesn't mean you are the only source.
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I agree on Finland and Estonia. As for Germany, they are the epitome of bureaucratic monstrosity. The reason why the Bundeswehr is in such a decrepit state is BECAUSE of the bureaucratic bloat.
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