WGAF if the board/stakeholders have entered into a mutually agreed upon compensation package? Like anyone here would turn down 200mm+ a year in comp? 2mm is set, rest is variable/OTE.
No one forced either to participate in that comp package. That's the basic core of a free society - you can't force me, I can't force you - rise to the level of your ability/merits. I don't fault him at all. When it no longer makes sense for Alphabet Co. they'll re-evaluate/move on.
Yeah...and buying off the govt to shut down your competition during covid was the free market.
Or buying defense stock as a congressman right before starting a war in Europe is just dandy.
I will add my thoughts, FWIW.
Most of us have benefitted in some way from "capitalism"... it is the American way of the past that helped one achieve the "American Dream" that many of us (or our ancestors) have benefitted from. I will just ask, "can it get too powerful or out of control?" My answer is yes but the devil is in the details and subject to debate and disagreement...
Many of us will benefit from .gov payments from one source or another. Think .gov pensions and benefits, medicare or medicate benefits, social security benefits, medicare or medicaid payments(health care providers), FSA payments(farmers and ranchers), or other payments for businesses(Covid loans?), students(student loan forgiveness), the poor(welfare, food stamps), etc., ... I'll ask again, "can it get too "big", "inefficient", "expensive", or out of control?" I will again say yes, we are there, but...
The next part of the puzzle is .gov itself. The Founders understood the difficulty of even getting 13 colonies that were divided religiously and economically to go forward as a "Union" of States under some Federal organization. The racial/ethnic thing, other than slavery... , was lower on the list of problems and mostly addressed by the attempt to separate "church" from "state" in the Constitution. The "Branches" were obviously designed to keep the leaders, rule makers/controllers of the purse, and the rule enforcers separate and in check (think anti- "king"/absolute ruler). Voters were men and for all intents and purposes, Northern European in ancestry!!! That got the "Great experiment" started and some were already questioning how long it would last not long after winning the Revolutionary War!
Fast forward through the expansion West, Indian conflicts, Civil War, Industrial Revolution, WWI, Depression, and WWII and "America" was on the front stage politically, economically, financially("dollar"), and militarily... the American Dream finally revealed??? Add in UN, NATO, Korean War, Cold War, growth and power of the "alphabet agencies", Viet Nam War, civil/racial unrest, assassinations, oil and Islam, early "boomers" giving way to later "boomers" (probably not the same... think "counter-culture"), too many "drunk" with power of political leadership or others "drunk" with the potential "gluttony" of greed and runaway capitalism and still others totally disaffected or left behind in the dust of the former.
The 80's, 90's, 2000's to the present just allowed the powerful leaders, powerful wealthy(financial institutions), powerful corporations(including the military), the powerful underground intelligence agencies, the powerful media, and the powerful education system to grow unabated while many if not most of the "masses" lived large "American Style" taking most for granted as learning "history" is not entertaining nor is society's memory long... easier to just cancel "history" and make it more comfortable and convenient ( for example my "truth"). The "Deep State" and "Establishment" came to be real terms, not just conspiracy jargon...
Technology (Internet, social media, AI, etc.) now just brings communication to the forefront. Brainwashing, disinformation, misinformation, manipulation, interference, and censoring speech are now at the forefront of "control" of America's path and the "stakes" are obviously higher for those who benefit the most and have the most to lose... "collusion" is real, the "Uniparty" is real, the "democratic republic" ideal is threatened at minimum and that is if it really exists at all. Sadly, most of us are probably just along for the ride, firearms or no firearms...
When I was a kid, I used to be bothered at night, sleeping under the stars wondering where the "end" of all that expanse was and how to comprehend that... I still can't but a belief in God has tempered that some. The life history of a "star" astronomically is similar and somewhat hard to comprehend for the same reasons. I am starting to feel like I am witness to a similar event in the history of our Country after only what, ~250 years??? I certainly hope not for me, my family, my posterity beyond that and my fellow Americans but it has happened before. What seems to be powerful, "good", "bright", and invincible proves not to be enduring in nature. The Founders were mortal but wise and realized that possibility.
Sometimes it feels good to "write" in silence! Read and listen if you want. Disagree if you want! I like to read what most of you have to say most of the time!!!