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A comment on Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders [pdf]. Parent comment

Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by quizotic on Saturday February 25, 2017 @10:25AM (#13731922)
Yes, we took land from indigenous peoples, and enslaved Africans. And yes we did awful things.

But isn't it obvious that neither of these things created the wealth we have today? To my thinking, our current wealth derives from technological innovation, process engineering, psychological insight, most of which would not have been possible without welcoming people from other lands, and being willing to work with those who are different than we are.

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Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by oneplane on Saturday February 25, 2017 @11:29AM (#13732234)
But aren't you still doing that today? I believe that somewhere in your country, someone wants a big pipe on some land, but the people living there don't want it, yet they force it anyway.
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Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by Gargoyle on Saturday February 25, 2017 @04:09PM (#13733832)
It's not actually going on land they own, but near it. The argument is that it's an environmental risk to their land, not that in infringes their property rights.
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Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by wtf_is_up on Saturday February 25, 2017 @12:52PM (#13732754)
That "someone" is really every American who enjoys cheap energy and, by extension, cheap food, transportation, etc. whether they know it or not.
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Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by r00fus on Saturday February 25, 2017 @10:00PM (#13735394)
Don't generalize. I'd much rather gas prices stay high and the environment not get spoiled so alternative energy sources can compete fairly.

Besides there cost / benefit of the pipeline only really makes sense to those who profit from it directly.

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Re:Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to Berkshire Hathaway Shar... by MomentarySanity on Saturday February 25, 2017 @02:43PM (#13733408)
Well, we do have, as most modern countries do, a system for the taking of private property for public use. But that's not even what's happening here, as no property is being taken.
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