pmarca.yml

-
    title: "Voter Participation"
    screen_name: "pmarca"
    first_id: 488428182282858498
    first_timestamp: "2014-07-13T16:02:07-05:00"
    tweets:
        - "2014-07-13T16:02:07-05:00 Common thing one hears in US is \"Political system broken; Founding Fathers never intended politics to be dominated by moneyed interests.\""
        - "2014-07-13T16:03:08-05:00 But in 1776, voting \"restricted to property owners—most of whom are white male Protestants over the age of 21\". http://t.co/x2AVaTBaEa"
        - "2014-07-13T16:03:51-05:00 In 1789, George Washington was elected President. \"Only 6% of the population can vote.\" http://t.co/PpX4aLQcM8"
        - "2014-07-13T16:04:38-05:00 Not until 1856 was voting expanded even to all white men (eliminating property ownership requirement) -- http://t.co/PpX4aLQcM8"
        - "2014-07-13T16:05:25-05:00 1868, voting extended to former slaves (at least in theory), but still explicitly defined as male."
        - "2014-07-13T16:07:18-05:00 Women could first vote starting in 1890 in Wyoming (!). In 1920, 19th Amendment passed, giving women right to vote throughout US."
        - "2014-07-13T16:08:21-05:00 Throughout late 1800s and early 1900s, lots of battles for and against rights of other groups e.g. Native Americans & immigrants to vote."
        - "2014-07-13T16:09:04-05:00 Of course, massive battles in the 1960's to extend practical right to vote to African-Americans; some battles continue to this day."
        - "2014-07-13T16:09:56-05:00 Not until 1971 (year I was born) did voting age get lowered to 18, despite 18-21 year olds being conscripted & sent to war throughout."
        - "2014-07-13T16:12:22-05:00 Founding Fathers arguably designed US system specifically to be dominated by moneyed interests, aka white male Protestant landowners."
        - "2014-07-13T16:12:57-05:00 We have far broader-based voting and political participation today than ever before, due to hard work by many activists over 200 years."
        - "2014-07-13T16:13:36-05:00 And we're still by no means perfect; lots of progress yet to be made. But we're leaps and bounds ahead of 50-100-150-200 years ago."
        - "2014-07-13T16:14:44-05:00 And no, I'm not watching the World Cup finals :-)."
-
    title: "Manifesto"
    screen_name: "pmarca"
    first_id: 496044593214148609
    first_timestamp: "2014-08-03T16:27:01-05:00"
    tweets:
        - "2014-08-03T16:27:01-05:00 Fun: Here is a manifesto on \"technology eats all the jobs\" which I did not write. Guess who wrote it and when: https://t.co/WPVyr2mKj6"
        - "2014-08-03T16:28:09-05:00 \"Computers and the Internet...result in a system of almost unlimited productive capacity which requires progressively less human labor.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:29:01-05:00 \"The technology revolution invalidates the general mechanism so far employed to undergird people’s rights as consumers.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:29:40-05:00 \"Potentially unlimited output can be achieved by systems of machines which will require little cooperation from human beings.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:30:57-05:00 \"As machines take over production from people, the men and women who are displaced become dependent on minimal government welfare.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:31:20-05:00 \"The existence of this paradox is denied or ignored by conventional economic analysis.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:32:52-05:00 \"Capitalist system designed to produce increasing quantity of goods; distribution of purchasing power would occur almost automatically.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:33:52-05:00 \"Continuance of the income-through-jobs link now acts as main brake on the almost unlimited capacity of a tech-based productive system.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:35:27-05:00 \"Adequate distribution of goods+services...: Not how to increase production but how to distribute the abundance created by technology.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:36:34-05:00 \"Underlying cause of unemployment: capability of machines is rising more rapidly than the capacity of many human beings to keep pace.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:37:46-05:00 \"As a first step to a new consensus it is essential to recognize that the traditional link between jobs and incomes is being broken.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:38:42-05:00 \"We urge that the government undertake an unqualified commitment to provide every individual with a basic income as a matter of right.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:40:21-05:00 \"Distribution of abundance in technological society must [have] criteria strikingly different from economic system based on scarcity.\""
        - "2014-08-03T16:43:22-05:00 Bonus points: Identify the publication, and its ideological affiliation, in which this manifesto first appeared."
-
    title: "Manifesto Part 2"
    screen_name: "pmarca"
    first_id: 496054747494100992
    first_timestamp: "2014-08-03T17:07:22-05:00"
    tweets:
        - "2014-08-03T17:07:22-05:00 Answer to last tweetstorm (https://t.co/TkBZV57iI7) is: 1964, in the International Socialist Review -- http://t.co/l9q7kwnl5U"
        - "2014-08-03T17:08:01-05:00 Every single argument made by today's \"technology will eat all the jobs\" brigade is in there, from 50 years ago."
        - "2014-08-03T17:08:34-05:00 Including the claim that \"this time is different\", that we finally reached the tipping point where the Luddite Fallacy would come true."
        - "2014-08-03T17:09:26-05:00 And including the demand for massive additional government intervention in the economy to correct the resulting inherent structural flaw."
        - "2014-08-03T17:10:46-05:00 Of course, since 1964, enormous numbers of new jobs have been created and quality of life in the US is way up at all income levels."
        - "2014-08-03T17:11:33-05:00 Identifying the fallacies and flaws in logic in the 1964 manifesto given the 50 years that followed is an interesting exercise..."
        - "2014-08-03T17:12:05-05:00 ...and, I propose, identical to identifying the fallacies and flaws in logic in the equivalent arguments today."
        - "2014-08-03T17:14:44-05:00 Perhaps most interesting change in era: Advocates then were proud to call themselves Socialists. Less so today. History is speaking to us."
-
    title: "Cutting Brands"
    screen_name: "pmarca"
    first_id: 496450542478979072
    first_timestamp: "2014-08-04T19:20:07-05:00"
    tweets:
        - "2014-08-04T19:20:07-05:00 Really interesting business experiment starting at Procter & Gamble: http://t.co/uHbjdPusAK"
        - "2014-08-04T19:21:04-05:00 P&G \"will sell or exit 90-100 mostly minor brands in bold attempt to refocus the business behind its 70-80 remaining best-selling brands\"."
        - "2014-08-04T19:22:34-05:00 \"'Less will be much more,' P&G CEO told analysts. 'The objective is growth... We're going to be much more agile and adaptable.'\""
        - "2014-08-04T19:23:47-05:00 I think a majority of big company CEOs think they should do this in their own companies. But few ever pull the trigger. Too scary."
        - "2014-08-04T19:24:44-05:00 A common thing you hear at big companies is \"SKU proliferation\" -- sheer # of items for sale. Bloats organization & makes action harder."
        - "2014-08-04T19:29:20-05:00 Steve Jobs legendarily used strategy of cutting brands & SKUs for Apple's turnaround. But few CEOs have followed suit in last 15 years."
        - "2014-08-04T19:30:12-05:00 Like Steve, AG Lafley at P&G is one of the most respected CEOs in the world. If this works for P&G as well as it did at Apple..."
        - "2014-08-04T19:30:44-05:00 ...I think the odds go way up that many big company CEOs will pull the trigger on the same strategy. Could be transformative for business."
        - "2014-08-04T19:31:41-05:00 The stakes are high: Whether, and how, big companies will be able to grow their businesses & their # of workers in the future."
        - "2014-08-04T19:33:30-05:00 Further, whether/how big companies will invest in new product creation in the future. Paring the old can be staging for creating the new."
        - "2014-08-04T19:38:11-05:00 Of course, Larry Page is busily ignoring Steve Jobs' advice to do the same thing at Google! And Jeff Bezos is furiously expanding Amazon."
        - "2014-08-04T19:39:52-05:00 No absolutes, but I think it's very healthy for every big company to consider: How to best set up to grow & create new things?"
-
    title: "Lyft Line"
    screen_name: "pmarca"
    first_id: 497147166406606848
    first_timestamp: "2014-08-06T17:28:15-05:00"
    tweets:
        - "2014-08-06T17:28:15-05:00 We @a16z are very excited about the launch of Lyft Line, and I want to explain why! http://t.co/Jbz6oU0GeZ https://t.co/b2TVhF5Lvu"
        - "2014-08-06T17:30:04-05:00 Lyft and Lyft Line are an archetypal example of how Silicon Valley is going straight at the hard problems, in this case transportation."
        - "2014-08-06T17:30:43-05:00 A growing number of people know about the amazing consumer utility and convenience created by \"a ride on demand whenever you want\"."
        - "2014-08-06T17:33:36-05:00 And in parallel, services like Lyft make it possible for people who may otherwise not be able to make car payments to keep their cars."
        - "2014-08-06T17:34:54-05:00 In many cities, this results in a triple win: Consumer convenience, driver economic benefits, and improved business/tourism environment."
        - "2014-08-06T17:36:20-05:00 But beyond that, as Lyft and its peers grow, ride sharing becomes increasingly convenient and affordable as *alternative* to owning a car."
        - "2014-08-06T17:38:45-05:00 This leads to environmental benefits: Fewer cars needed -> less natural resource utilization; Network efficiency -> fewer miles driven."
        - "2014-08-06T17:40:55-05:00 Online supply/demand matching eliminates need for cars-for-hire to drive around & look for riders. Network optimization in bits not atoms."
        - "2014-08-06T17:42:02-05:00 Lyft Line is especially environmentally friendly: Facilitates multiple people riding together on same route, still with high convenience!"
        - "2014-08-06T17:45:17-05:00 Everyone in world wants equivalent to upper-middle-class American lifestyle. Services like Lyft make possible without destroying planet."
        - "2014-08-06T17:47:17-05:00 Few new tech's deliver so much to so many: riders, drivers, car owners, cities, environment. And to think it just looks like an app :-)."
        - "2014-08-06T17:52:49-05:00 Closing note: Lyft Line is classic \"peace dividend of smartphone wars\" -- not possible pre universal smartphones. http://t.co/Lj8FpHXIBj"