Putting the scale of dollars and the startup world aside, AOC’s comments read that way would suggest a farmer who gets a series of loans from the bank to help him expand his family farm from a $200K sole proprietorship to a $10M sole proprietorship didn’t “earn” it either.
replyI don’t think a definition of “earn” that excludes cases like that captures the generally understood meaning.
Didn't AOC's comment specifically say a billion? Why would it imply someone increasing from $200k to $10m didn't earn it?
replyI don't think putting the scale of dollars aside is reasonable when the entire point is contingent on the scale being at least two orders of magnitude higher and sole proprietorships usually don't scale to the point where fines from ignoring regulations is just the cost of doing business.
replyThe farmer doesn’t own that mega farm until he pays off the loans.
replyHow does he get the money to do that?
By paying farm worker less than they deserve, farm equipment manufacturers more than they deserve, and using farming practices that destroy the ecology and depend on continued fossil fuel extraction.
reply(And in California where the most profitable crops are perennial fruits and nuts, probably outright stealing water from the aquifer or state irrigation system.)