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Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

annehelen.substack.com

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Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#81

Post by rlili »

guerrilla wrote: post #28
rlili wrote: post #10

> That’s what happens when an industry is fully enveloped by capitalism Yep, I'd say that capitalism itself is an MLM.

Can you elaborate as to why you think so?

Other commenters already stated that, but it's because achieving increasing profits ultimately relies on an increasing population to work and consume.

This is why, for example, people are always encouraged to have children. It's marketing to coerce people to reel more people (in that case, unborn people) into the scheme.

What's the difference between that and any other MLM?

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#82

Post by bombcar »

thr0wawayf00 wrote: post #59
mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

You're wondering about the software industry specifically, but what you're really asking about is the education industrial complex. Universities are not in the business of properly meeting labor demands of the market with skilled workers, and they never have been. Their goal is to increase enrollment and capture as much grant and tuition money as they can. Universities don't care if too many lawyers, chemical enginee…

You also don’t end up as a certificated employee like a nurse or pharm md or even a chemical engineer - so those with “IT/programming” training but end up working elsewhere or in a different line don’t get easily counted.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#83

Post by rlili »

guerrilla wrote: post #51
sky-kedge0749 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not GP, but here's an answer to your question in the form of a jigsaw puzzle: https://www.etsy.com/listing/739198964/crimethinc-pyramid-of...

That's equivocation between a pyramid as hierarchy and a pyramid as a specific business model. As far as I know, capitalism doesn't require constant recruitment because growth can be achieved in other ways like reducing product quality, reducing wages, deteriorating working conditions, increasing technological efficiency, enclosing commons, privatizing public goods and services, etc.

The alternatives that you listed seem likely to eventually lead consumers to stop consuming a product. Population growth, on the other hand, does not.

Unless, of course, we reach the inevitable point where resources become so scarce that no one can consume anymore. But that future is still distant enough to be systematically ignored. Hell, even climate change is still being barely addressed.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#84

Post by llaolleh »

mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

Desktop computers were released in the 1980s(Apple II, MS-DOS). If you think about it, that's only 40 years at most where the gates of software programming has been opened.

Considering that everyone in the 1st world country has access to a computer, and given that much of our lives are entangled by software, it's just a demand problem. The demand for software completely outstrips the number of software engineers available. Given people's short attention spans, and the incredible number of concentration and patience the discipline requires, I expect the shortage to continue for the foreseeable future.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#85

Post by m463 »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #79
antisthenes wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Franchises offload the risk on the franchisee and collect their percentage fee regardless of the performance. There was a segment on John Oliver's program about Subway being particularly predatory about this, as well as deliberately maintaining information asymmetry to mislead franchisees. In which sense do you think franchises are counterfactual here?

Similarly, McDonald's is now, in fact, largely a real estate company: All of the franchises have to pay them rent, and it's the largest portion of their revenue.

It's interesting how some corporations do not do what they seem to be doing.

I think of the airlines and rewards programs, google identifying people, and silicon valley startups selling stock.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#86

Post by _notathrowaway »

llaolleh wrote: post #84
mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

Desktop computers were released in the 1980s(Apple II, MS-DOS). If you think about it, that's only 40 years at most where the gates of software programming has been opened. Considering that everyone in the 1st world country has access to a computer, and given that much of our lives are entangled by software, it's just a demand problem. The demand for software completely outstrips the number of software engineers avai…

I wish I shared in your optimism. From where I am standing I see more and more young people trying to get into our field, and I don't feel there is much of an and entry barrier at all.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#87

Post by NoGravitas »

TwoNineA wrote: post #26
_aleph2c_ wrote: post #4

MLM: Multilevel Marketing scheme

Articles like this grind my gears when they mention an ancronym in the title and I have to read through 4 paragraphs before finding out what MLM means.

Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Men Loving Men, I always assume.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#88

Post by rdbell »

rlili wrote: post #81
guerrilla wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate as to why you think so?

Other commenters already stated that, but it's because achieving increasing profits ultimately relies on an increasing population to work and consume. This is why, for example, people are always encouraged to have children. It's marketing to coerce people to reel more people (in that case, unborn people) into the scheme. What's the difference between that and any other MLM?

Reproduction is one if the most fundamental instincts ingrained in all of nature and you’re blaming people’s desire to have kids on some kind of capitalist conspiracy.

That’s an absurd take.

Re: Is Everything an MLM? (2019)

#90

Post by kelseyfrog »

mandevil wrote: post #30

My wife is a pharmacist. Over the past two decades the number of pharmacy schools has increased and some schools have gotten bigger classes, such that now every year there are about 25% more Pharm.D's made than in 2005. The result has been a predictable decrease in pharmacist quality of life- the pay is basically the same number of dollars today that you would get in 2005 so inflation has made them poorer, the hours…

Software is eating the world, sure, but consider a parallel: the typist. In 2000 there were 282,000 employed typists in the US[1]. Today it has fallen to 23,000. A 90% decline over 20 years. Why? Everyone knows how to type now. Typing is an assumed skill in other jobs. Twenty two years ago I took a typing class in middle school on clacky old Selectrics[2]. While typing classes aren't taught in school today, I cannot help but look at the pervasive 'teach kids to code'[3][4][5][6] wage and think of the similarities.

Future jobs will expect coding as a skill, not an end to itself. You can even see the inklings today with the explosion of data science, analysis, and digital marketing. In two decades, with an assumed coding skill, we'll have orders of magnitude more. Just as we can ask today, "What happened to all the typists?" we'll be able to ask, "What happened to all the coders?"

1. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LEU0254503100A

2. http://ibmselectric.blogspot.com/2016/03/topaz-bronze-select...

3. https://teachyourkidscode.com/

4. https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/how-to-teach-k...

5. https://www.apple.com/education/k12/teaching-code/

6. https://www.idtech.com/blog/how-to-teach-kids-to-code

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