Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow • Hacker News Board

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#141

Post by maerF0x0 » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:28 PM UTC

uoaei wrote: post #126

maerF0x0 wrote: post #39

I still have a belief that capitalism and free markets are superior, but not the way we're doing it now. I'm not trying to no true scotsman here, but a man born in germany to 2 austrian parents and dressed in a kilt is no true scotsman. as i see things there are some major issues are - Removing money from gold standard, allowing power to accrue to those who can control the supply. Instead of competing for what consum…

Limited reply to requiring zero debt: Public assets (roads, sewers, other kinds of infrastructure) are always going to be "debt" in the myopic accounting from the perspective of the government. Requiring zero debt means selling these assets off to (presumably private) entities, which sounds like a terrible idea for reasons aligned closely with the kinds of arguments found in Doctorow's blog post.

maybe I'm not fully understanding your point, or public accounting, but it seems me that if government followed this order of operations

1. Collected sufficient taxes (ie money) to pay for a work 2. Built the work spending down the money 3. counted the work as an asset on the public balance sheet (ie, we own the pipes)

Wouldn't that mean no debt and not selling it off to corporations?

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#142

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:29 PM UTC

rightbyte wrote: post #26

dragontamer wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck Malibu vs Bel Air crash test. You better believe that modern cars are better, its incredible how _BAD_ cars were before we cared about safety. And that's just safety. Today's cars have better MPG, go faster, have more power, easier to maintain, consistently hit 150,000 miles, etc. etc.

I have to admit cars have gotten better. I wonder why, since pretty much any other machinery have become worse. Monkey wrenches, kitchen aids, washing machines. Even static tools like frying pans, screw drivers. You name it. But not cars.

[deleted]

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#143

Post by moffkalast » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:30 PM UTC

johntiger1 wrote: post #96

I think Cory is going a little too harsh on Uber/Amazon. People use them because they provide convenience and ease-of-use, and are willing to pay for a better customer experience. If anything, 'taxi medallions' are literally the original form of feudalism and collecting rent from doing nothing.

I think you misunderstand his point slightly. Amazon, Aliexpress, etc. aren't feudal from the buyers' perspective, they are from the sellers' side.

The taxi permits also fit to some extent, though the one time payment isn't exactly rent seeking but more for creating artificial scarcity. They're BabyTaxiShibaCoins from the 60s with about as much price fluctuation as the average crypto shitcoin according to wikipedia.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#144

Post by hoosieree » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:37 PM UTC

jmclnx wrote: post #7

>Yanis Varoufakis proposes that capitalism has died — but it wasn’t replaced by socialism. Rather, capitalism has given way to feudalism: This to me is what is really happening. A good symbol of this is income inequality and to a lesser extent, no real action on climate change. Eventually, the "lords" will be in their castles were we most people bake. The "knights" could be the tech people.

The techies are well-fed gladiators, not knights.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#145

Post by MrOwnPut » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:40 PM UTC

topaz0 wrote: post #130

MrOwnPut wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I don't agree with your hyperbole, yes it is an imperfect system, but it is the best system we have.

You have not understood what I said. I'm not talking about unappealing features of the idealized version of capitalism that GP is lionizing. I'm talking about how capitalism as described brings about the conditions that undermine free competition, by its nature. You're talking about it as though we can just agree as a society "we're doing free competition now" and that's that. Capitalists won't agree to this -- every…

I'm essentially asking you what system you are proposing.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#146

Post by travisgriggs » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:42 PM UTC

"Today, we live in a rentier's paradise. People don't aspire to create value – they aspire to capture it."

Wow. Love this.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#147

Post by DirkH » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:45 PM UTC

sameOldPpl wrote: post #4

More of this from the aging generations, huh? https://exhibits.library.duke.edu/exhibits/show/comic-book-c... Same with jazz, DnD, same with rock music, same with rap No one seems to have much rage for the environment, just their mind palace

TIL my concern that Big Tech is progressively centralizing power to the detriment of society writ large is exactly as shortsighted and dumb a fear like the moral panic that DnD is satanic. /s

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#148

Post by kghe3X » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:48 PM UTC

nektro wrote: post #125

not even gonna read this because the title couldn't be more false. the computer accelerated capitalism far beyond anyone could have ever dreamed.

Maybe if you read it you would realize why the title makes sense.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#149

Post by FrustratedMonky » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:51 PM UTC

This is the scariest thing I've read in a long time.

It is MOLOCH. We keep re-summoning MOLOCH.

Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow

#150

Post by ZeroGravitas » Tue, Jul 25, 2023, 7:56 PM UTC

liendolucas wrote: post #73

I don't know if it's me nor if the author is aware that in order to read the article I need to enshittificate myself with a medium account to proceed. Please Mr. Doctorow de-enshittificate yourself from Medium!

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-de...

He has a rundown of the various ways to access his content at the bottom:

> How to get Pluralistic:

> Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

> Pluralistic.net

> Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

> https://pluralistic.net/plura-list

> Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection):

> https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic

> Medium (no ads, paywalled):

> https://doctorow.medium.com/

(Latest Medium column: "When the Town Square Shatters: Once again, sf fandom shows us how to use the internet" https://doctorow.medium.com/when-the-town-square-shatters-a7...)

> Twitter (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):

> https://twitter.com/doctorow

> Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising):

> https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralisti...