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A couple of thoughts stuck me today as I followed this unfolding thread periodically on work breaks...
1. ace: The situation with Tesla Motors is a bit more complicated than you are trying to make it out. In terms of picking winners and losers at the behest of the US Government...both GM and Tesla Motors have received government support. Tesla has been lobbying for years to gain US government support, and at this time have $465M ($465,000,000 / almost half a billion dollars) in government subsidized loans to develop their sedan class vehicle. I believe the initial target price will be in the neighborhood of $50,000 and judging from the way the hybrid vehicles have been handled, will likely rely on tax incentives to get any market share initially. From what I've read, they will have a target range of ~220 miles per charge, with an option to buy a more expensive battery pack that will boost them up to ~300 miles. To argue that the government could have chosen to stabilize GM or boost up Tesla, but chose to support GM because of entrenched politics is too simplified. If Tesla were to grow in market share in the near-term to the size of GM, or even nearly the size of GM, they would have to adopt GM's technology. The pure electric vehicle technology that is ready to go today is simply not ready for mass marketing without significant changes in expectation on behalf of the United States public. This why they are an early adopter technology company, and this is why they are being supported by the United States government. Incidentally, I believe they are probably also receiving some assistance from Japan and/or Germany, as they are now teamed up with Daimler/Mercedes and Toyota.
2. Another issue with the lack of widespread reading in Europe was also that wily Catholic Church, who used literacy or illiteracy, if you will, as a tool to retain power over the populace. Its tough to argue with the interpretation of God's Word if you can't read it.
3. This entire issue seems to rotate around that nasty phrase "redistribution of wealth," and it seems to me that no matter how you look at it, any form of government will entail a redistribution of wealth. "Class Warfare" is simply a reality. What I see is that those with money/power are simply using that money and power to reframe the discussion, such that if you allow the current ordering to stand, then these concepts go away. If you believe in a more uniform distribution of wealth in a given society, then you are promoting these concepts. No matter what you choose, someone will not be happy. But you can't simply wash away the underlying concepts simply because you happen to like things the way they are.
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