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Originally Posted by Luffy
These companies are big, but they are not the hugest of all times. E.g the Dutch East India Company was worth several times the value of Google. I found that out on quora.
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As I understand it, the Dutch East India company was the first of what we would now call a corporation. How big it would be by comparing it to current-day companies, I don't know. It *was* huge, that's true enough.
Since about 1550 up to around 1750, the Netherlands were arguably one of the most powerful countries in the world, along with the British Empire, Spain, and Portugal.
All of the Dutch sea faring trade eventually conglomerated into the VOC around 1600, and the Netherlands was at the peak of it's power during +/- 1600-1700; also called the Golden Age, because of the VOC company.
Although the Dutch also did some things during that time that were... uh... somewhat less ethical.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux
Another difference is that The Dutch East India Company had its own troops to demolish local opposition. Somehow, I can't see any current nation state looking favourably on Apple or Google for destroying the employees of their competitors.
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While one company doesn't destroy, kill or murder employees of other companies, they do steal them, with better salaries or better secondary conditions. Sometimes they do it even though the employee doesn't add a lot to company A, but him or her not being at company B is sometimes such a huge advantage to Company A that they steal/entice him/her away anyway.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fiat_Lux
The only people that read newer Dutch works, are people who are paid to read them, knowing that they will never get their money's worth out of the material.
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LOL. I've read a lot of older Dutch works, written before 1900, and enjoyed most of them. I hated almost every single Dutch work I had to read which was written after 1920... especially those by Gerard Reve and Harry Mulish.
I even tried to read some fantasy and Sherlock Holmes in Dutch once... but it just doesn't work. It just feels contrived, blasé, and unnatural... childish even, sometimes.