What a huge insult to people like Steve Jobs.

People who think this way and write these kinds of articles are beyond ignorant. They are dangerously ignorant. They probably lived their entire lives inside a reality distortion field and actually believe this shit.

Here's what I find very interesting: None of these people will ever write an article pointing out how badly government/the state has fucked us over. They go out of their way to attribute visionary status to the government but never bring them to task for what they've done to society.

Examples:

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They'll print this: The government created the Internet (false, private enterprise took it from a limited use experiment into what it is today), you should all bow and be thankful.

They'll never say this: The government created the internet with the goal of creating the perfect surveillance tool to actively violate everyone's privacy across the globe by monitoring your every move.

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This: We owe the government for creating the GPS system.

Not this: The military created the GPS system to be able to kill people with more efficiency and develop ever more deadly weapons. They did not create it for you to be able to go hiking or find directions to your friends house. In fact, they didn't even envision the possibility of something like an iPhone ever even existing.

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This: DARPA funds great projects and helps entrepreneurs.

Not this: DARPA is a military organization throwing money at efforts that will help create a more powerful military and, in turn, kill people with greater efficiency. The ultimately business of the military is to kill people when they are asked to do so and to do it as efficiently as possible. Their business isn't to create technology for us to enjoy while we go fishing.

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This: Government built roads, plans cities and infrastructure and we all benefit from this.

Not this: The US government seriously fucked up nearly all urban planning in the US by not focusing the effort on long-term efficient mass transit. They created abominations such as Los Angeles, where it is nearly impossible to exist without a car. Their actions have created untold amounts of environmental pollution, health problems and inefficiencies because we have to live with millions of unnecessary cars and trucks on the road. This failing has cost us for generations and will likely continue to cost us for generations to come.

Through this horrible failure in planning they have enslaved us to our vehicles. Nearly every working person in the US has to own a car. Families spend tens of thousands of dollars purchasing and maintaining them as well as thousands of dollars a year in fuel. Massive numbers of trucks on the road are added for good measure. The environmental pollution is of monumental proportions. The human loss is also hard to measure. With efficient and ubiquitous mass transit people would have the opportunity to make use of their commute time for purposes other than being a control system. Perhaps read a book and learn something.

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This: Our government wisely spends billions a year in foreign aid.

Not this: Our government has caused us to lose standing and respect in the world by irresponsibly throwing money around to buy friendships and, often-times, support brutal regimes. Some of these actions have led to increased anger towards the US and have turned the focus of terrorists towards our shores.

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This: Governments look after our safety and freedom.

Not this: Governments world wide are responsible for HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of people killed in military conflicts. Governments start wars, not people, not the local butcher, baker or teacher. Governments. They have killed hundreds of millions of people with almost no consequence to themselves. When did you last see a president or a sentator take their own life for launching us into a bullshit failed war and killing people for no good reason?

No, it's "we the people" who have to live with the consequences of their actions, it isn't "we the ruling party". They've made a mess out of the world. Period. The mess the UK and the US have made out of the Middle East is hard to understand. Go back and read about how some of those countries came to be.

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This: Our government wisely makes economic rules and creates programs that benefit us all.

Not this: The US government is absolutely responsible for the economic collapse of 2008. Their rules created the framework that allowed the real-estate market to devolve and ultimately derail. Without their "regulation" it would have been absolutely impossible for the series of events that ultimately took down the world to have taken place.

Furthermore, as things were devolving our all-knowing, all-seeing, wise and learned government never took a step towards fixing the problem and stopping what was coming.

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This: Government social programs are great. We should be thankful.

Not this: Government social programs have created generations of people with no drive to succeed, educate themselves and contribute to society in any meaningful manner. It is, in many ways, economic slavery of the worst possible kind.

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This: Governments promote travel, tourism and business at an international level.

Not this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6309618

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This: The State looks after it's citizens.

Never this: Hitler. The treatment of women in the Arab world. Genocide. The Soviet Union. Cuba. Dictators. Kings. Gay rights. Abortion. Never being able to truly own your home because you owe them taxes. The IRS. NSA.

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Don't get me wrong. We need small and limited government. We simply don't need what most have turned into. It is a huge monster that gobbles it all up and, ultimately, does little to make our lives better in the long term.

"With great power comes great responsibility" often derails into "With great power come greater abuses to humanity".

People that champion the idea that we owe almost everything to the State seldom take the time to bring the State to task for what maladies they've inflicted upon the people. If they do it at all it is very rare and lacking intensity and longevity.

They truly think that the State is great. Lots of us see that the emperor has no clothes and that the State needs to have as small a part in our lives as possible. Not sure what it will take for others to see this short of a total collapse, which is in our future if things don't change. Get ready to learn a painful lesson.