Radim

Yeah ruling juntas do need to "man the fields & factories" (1st order meatware), in order to produce and maintain those drones. Or nukes, or whatever "deciding factor beyond numbers" put them in power.

But they also need 2nd order meatware to support that 1st order: teachers, doctors, merchants… You need scientists to advance your technology against other militaries… You need leaders (3rd order) to keep the first two populations quiet and productive since that turns out to be more cost-effective than fear control through extermination…

Hell you need a certain level of genetic diversity so your own kids don't come out weird.

Give evolution a little more credit. The required number of humans for the in-group to be self-sustainable is definitely not billions, plus it's been shrinking with automation. But we are where we are for a reason – lots of alternative arrangements have been tried over millenia and found wanting.

"Keep my bunker + my drone factory and some farmers, kill the rest" leaves rulers with terrible quality of life (bad) and the next-door-junta taking over pretty quickly (also bad). It is a self-defeating, poor long-term strategy.

Automation tips the power balance further: fewer humans needed, more local autonomy. Which is, I suspect, why the ruling class are so terribly excited about AI, more so than some market valuations. Fewer pesky humans across all levels. Genetic diversity of bloodline remains the primary concern (unless you manage to live forever, which happens to be another evergreen of power ghouls).

A slight elaboration from the same book, although still frustratingly vague:

"The machines themselves condition the users to employ each other the way they employ machines."

- God Emperor of Dune

The one that gave us the very word "slave"?

To GP's point, skin colour did not seem to be the salient factor there.

> don't trust Nobel laureates or even winners

Nobel laureate and winner are the same thing.

> Linus Pauling was talking absolute garbage, harmful and evil, after winning the Nobel.

Can you be more specific, what garbage? And which Nobel prize do you mean – Pauling got two, one for chemistry and one for peace.

> If I wasn’t clear enough I hope I am now.

I'm afraid "much about anything." is still too vague to tell :)

No need to bring out the "immoral" card – yes, there definitely exist gvt policies (incl. tax) that tip a critical number of that country's skilled workers over into emigration. We're not talking Depardieu or "laptop tourists", we're talking local construction workers FFS.

Observing the tug-of-war HN votes on my post, some people must have taken that footnote as a cue for their ideological warfare du jour. Poor-vs-rich! Pitchforks now!

- "Fixation on taxation levels"… from my "whether [tax is] 20% or 48% cannot be the answer"? How?

- "loves to see low income taxes fore them as an universal band aid for the entire economy"… from my "Clearly Portugal's problems are much deeper than that, going back to 1974 […] Portugal's bureaucracy is legendary"? How?

With all due respect I think the fixation is yours. I have lived in Austria (my sister still lives there) and I have lived in Portugal. There are a lot of issues under the surface in both. Different histories, different trajectories. No need to attack strawmen.

If you have specific insights on the situation in Portugal (beyond Rinzler89's "just create jobs and spend existing taxes more wisely" :eyeroll:), I'd love to hear them. This is a topic close to my heart, I still love Portugal.

> Seeing a single number and coming to that conclusion is very reductive, imo.

That's not what the parent post was about, at all. Or did you only read its footnote?

Whether the Portuguese population "feels like they are getting value" is best observed in how they vote. Both during elections (Chega), and most directly and loudly, in how they vote with their feet. Opinions of Irishmen in Vienna notwithstanding.

Whether foreigners are income-taxed at 20% or 48% cannot be the answer¹. Clearly Portugal's problems are much deeper than that, going back to 1974 and beyond.

To name one, Portugal's bureaucracy is legendary. The Portuguese are not called "Honorary East Europeans" for nothing.

The red tape creates a complex system of inefficiency and corruption. It's like a cauldron – you (the government) plug one obvious hole, only to find the pressure found another, "unexpectedly".

And yes, young people run away in droves from Portugal, leaving entire industries back home chronically understaffed. Construction & health being two prominent examples that need foreigners to keep the lights on. This shortage of labour drives commercial prices up higher still, contributing to the death spiral.

¹ Leaving aside that both numbers are high to begin with; 48% ridiculously so (for anyone above €82k/year). That's no way to treat your productive population. And that's just income; there's additional health and social taxes, some masquarading as "insurance" or "employer contribution". Would you blame the young for leaving?

Because UK does not appear in the article's intra-EU groups on panel B.

And Cyprus.

And Malta.

Luckily UK is already out of the EU, or that would be another can of money-laundering worms!

> has an unquantifiable non zero worth to the commenter.

Yes, that's the "other kicks out of it" above. Already covered.

More importantly:

> You just provided free content (a brief opinion piece) for publication on a commercial entity (HackerNews, run by YCombinator)... ...which, according to you, is a "bad idea all around", since you exploit yourself and harm others.

If HackerNews is indeed a PR branch of some commercial entity, then people posting here for free provide value (which is not to say any of my comments do…) to that entity. Potentially harming alternative forums, whether free or commercial. The point stands.

> So, why are you acting against your morals and judgement?

Good call. I guess I didn't perceive HN as for-profit. Perhaps OP's "At some point" is now, for me.