Analysis of Sam Altman's July 4th Message

I’m not big on identities, but I am extremely proud to be American. This is true every day, but especially today—I firmly believe this is the greatest country ever on Earth. The American miracle stands alone in world history.

(I don't know much about his biography, but the fact that he's American contributed greatly to who he is. I believe that if Sam had been born in Brazil, where I live, it would be impossible for him to be who he is. I'd add that the contributions of tech personalities linked to Apple, Oracle, Google, Microsoft, Intel, HP, IBM, Adobe paved his way to success.)

I believe in techno-capitalism. We should encourage people to make tons of money and then also find ways to widely distribute wealth and share the compounding magic of capitalism. One doesn’t work without the other; you cannot raise the floor and not also raise the ceiling for very long.

 (Techno-capitalism, which he represents, plays a relevant role in how we'll use technology. It's interesting that he ends the paragraph by warning that the social justice of capitalism begins with the understanding that prosperity must first come to techno-capitalists, because they are the ones who will distribute income through companies and jobs. These guys think they're saviors)

The world should get richer every year through science and technology, but everyone has to be in the “up elevator”. I think the government usually does a worse job than markets, and so we need to encourage our culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. I also believe that education is critically important to keeping the American edge.

(Education is the solution to problems of innovation and entrepreneurship, and he's right about that. Here in Brazil, education isn't on families' priority list. I'd point out that in Brazil, education is mandatory and free.)

I believed this when I was 20, when I was 30, and now I am 40 and still believe it. The Democratic party seemed reasonably aligned with it when I was 20, losing the plot when I was 30, and completely to have moved somewhere else at this point. So now I am politically homeless. But that’s fine; I care much, much more about being American than any political party.

(In the U.S., there are two parties with distinct ideological positions. I believe the Republican and Democratic parties are bigger than the politicians. It's curious, we Brazilians give more importance to the politician. It's very natural for politicians to migrate from party to party as power shifts. We have 29 parties in Brazil.)

I’d rather hear from candidates about how they are going to make everyone have the stuff billionaires have instead of how they are going to eliminate billionaires.

(Candidates eager to eliminate billionaires must be Democrats! It's curious how this anti-rich discourse also hangs over Americans. Today in Brazil, there's something similar since the federal government decided to increase the tax rates on financial operations—IOF.)

The American experiment has always been messy. I am hopeful for another great 250 years. Happy 4th!

(He thinks the U.S. is messy. That's because he's not Brazilian. For 203 years, Brazil has been a circus ring whose administrators are true clowns.)