Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm essentially asking you what system you are proposing.
I'm not sure what gave you the impression that I was proposing something in my comments.
You don't have an opinion of a better system?
Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
161–170 of 213 posts
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#162I 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!
Indeed, f* medium, how did they get to be gatekeepers to so much of everyone's content anyway?
I did register (free), and am now paywalled to upgrade to read almost anything on there - it would be ok if it was just 'paid content' where the authors are getting paid, but it seems to be way beyond that.
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#163Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#164Earlier 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…
Yes I generally agree that the absolute version of "Free markets" as in 0 government (it's very existence is a distortion), is not going to work either, and it will just lead to interested groups using acquired forms of power to create distortions in their own favor.
More so I'd propose a system of government which has baked into its constitution things which remove the power of capital from politics. For example lobbying and non-individual and non limited campaign donations are 2 such things that must be not allowed.
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#165Enshittification for [EVERYTHING] is going to keep Cory busy for years
He's as skilled at branding as those he ostensibly decries. There were many perfectly good* words to describe this phenomenon - degradation, ossification, sclerosis and more. Instead we've got this ugly neologism, the literary equivalent of a poop emoji. I agree with a lot of Doctorow's ideas, but I don't care for his commodification of dystopia. It feels like using goths to sell cigarettes.
* Not 'cromulent'
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#166I 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,…
> He has a rundown of the various ways to access his content at the bottom
To the point of the commenter, you can't read that as it's blocked. A better approach is to change the link to this HN post.
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#167I 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.
Amazon's "customer experience" is one of the reasons I no longer purchase from them.
It's one of the reasons I continue to purchase from them. I don't return a lot but I've never had a problem with it - and at least once they surprised me on that.
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#168I 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.
This. Amazon is like Walmart. Walmart is great if your shopping but it's the pits if you're a supplier.
Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#169Re: Autoenshittification. How the computer killed capitalism. – by Cory Doctorow
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cumulative measures such as these are extremely misleading. Per capita measures only slightly less so. Without looking into the distribution over the population there is no real connection between your comment and the parent's.
You or the parent are more than welcome to post data proving the opposite is true. Instead both of you are just stating things with nothing but vibes to back it up.
You'll note of course that I'm not arguing the opposite conclusion. Don't try to force that on me. I'm just saying it seems really uncritical to assume that cumulative data says anything about median purchasing power.