this post was submitted on 08 May 2026
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He isn't perfect but he represents what could work about capitalism if there were proper safeguards. With him, he's governed by his own choices or morals, so the current system doesn't work because most rich people don't care. Gabe:
Provides a good base product
The product is based on being ran on open hardware that you own.
Uses his own money to advance support for a true open standard (Linux) because Windows is going down the toilet for UX.
Creates his own hardware that works with the product to give a walled garden experience if you want that. Or you can install your own operating system on the hardware, or install his operating system on other hardware, he doesn't care.
Doesn't have anticompetitive practices with people that make a similar product, focusing on being the best product.
Incorporates ease of use for other products into his product (PlayStation controllers, adding non steam games that are able to use most of the same features via Steam including Proton).
Treats employees well.
Is generous with the refund policy.
And guess what? Everyone is happy. He's happy and rich AF, his employees are happy, his customers are happy, his competition is happy because he's not purposefully throttling them (though they probably aren't happy he's eating their lunch because customers don't want them). The system can work for everyone if it is fair. We just need to demand these safeguards because even Gabe could change his mind at any time.
100% ^^ this right here.
Valve is one of the very few big companies I am totally fine spending money with. The value proposition is entirely focused on the products and how the customer, me, gets the most from them. No artificial scarcity, no protectionist bullshit, no outrageously exploitative EULA or obvious shafting of vendors. They focused on creating something useful and functional, and they profit from it. Bravo.
And they have been doing this for decades. The first PC I installed Steam on was a Celeron with a Voodoo2 GPU in it.
I have to do business with other companies because they have driven other competitors out of business. I get to do business with Valve.
He's a billionaire. There are no good ones. Some are worse than others, but none are good. It's a disgusting amount of hoarded wealth.
I think you're missing the point. The meme implies that liking Steam is some kind of contradiction to being anticapitalist (or at least anti-status quo of ridiculous unchecked capitalism). It's not a contradiction because the way Gabe runs his business is good. It is the way all businesses should be ran: pro consumer, pro employee, pro competition/pro free market, and not caught up in the gambling fiasco that is the stock market. If other businesses were not so focused on fucking over as many people as possible, they could be just as successful as Gabe.
Should it be POSSIBLE to be that successful? You don't think so, and I tend to agree. But pulling for a 90% tax rate after a certain point is in no way in opposition to praising fair business practices. They're directly related.
If Steam becomes an awful experience, guess what? I won't sing its praises to people I know and I'll find something better. Loyalty goes both ways.
Back in the times that people keep telling me were great, that was the norm. Cutting taxes for the money makers is the entire reason we're in this mess. Instead of reinvesting money in the company or the country, it's being boarded and sat on to make number go up.
You are correct.
It.... Very much is. He runs a business that doesn't make people piss in bottles. Great, but that's a low bar.
He runs a business that looks after customers, that's great but Amazon does that too so I consider it a cost of doing the billions in trade that he does and a cost of effective monopoly maintenance. If they weren't pro consumer folks might actually leave.
He pays his employees better than others, great, but he's sitting on 9 billion in wealth so let's not pretend he couldn't pay them more or squeeze small developers less than 30% (and he's probably squeezing them more than big houses).
You can't have that much money and be ethical. You can be less shitty than other billionaires but again that's a low, low bar.
This is news to me
Amazon customer service has been "good." Any time theres an issue they just ship a new one and tell you to keep the old one. I know lots of people who speak extremely highly of them, do you think they got so big treating their paying customers like shit?
Wait you're telling me the guy that pioneered loot crates and owns like 8 yachts isn't a good person?
But he made that fun game that one time!