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Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

bloomberg.com

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Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#371

Post by vibrato »

Kalium wrote: post #331
qubex wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might add that Silicon Valley et al has not simply cleverly redefined the meaning of ’sharing’ to cover their rental practices, but even the meaning of community has been totally warped out of shape. A community used to be a group of geographically proximate people whose collective survival depended on getting over their sometimes conflicting mutual interests and opinions in order to survive; now we use the term ’c…

Personally, I view this as a distinct upgrade. Instead of being coerced into lots of interaction with people I may have nothing in common with except vague geographical proximity, I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies. To me, this isn't isolated loners. It's the first real community I've ever known. The first one I've ever actually felt like I was a part o…

Isolated in groupthink.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#372

Post by jimbokun »

Kalium wrote: post #331
qubex wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might add that Silicon Valley et al has not simply cleverly redefined the meaning of ’sharing’ to cover their rental practices, but even the meaning of community has been totally warped out of shape. A community used to be a group of geographically proximate people whose collective survival depended on getting over their sometimes conflicting mutual interests and opinions in order to survive; now we use the term ’c…

Personally, I view this as a distinct upgrade. Instead of being coerced into lots of interaction with people I may have nothing in common with except vague geographical proximity, I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies. To me, this isn't isolated loners. It's the first real community I've ever known. The first one I've ever actually felt like I was a part o…

"The first one I've ever actually felt like I was a part of, where I was always welcome and could always rely on finding people like me."

People who think like you do, who will never challenge you about anything important, or expose you to uncomfortable ideas or opinions, or cause you to question your assumptions about the world.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#373

Post by scrumption »

I love how this blatant neoliberal propaganda piece attempts to brand the gig economy and perpetual licensing of streaming content in lieu of CDs and other physical media ownership as "communal" (certainly they didn't mean anything by that wording?) when it's clearly a natural progression of the rent-seeking motive that capitalism is literally based on. "All the bad parts of %ideology% aren't real %ideology%!" Gee, where have we heard that before.

Also great to see them deliberately misuse "private property" when discussing ownership of personal property.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#374

Post by wsy »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #354
fallingfrog wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off, a lot of people are born at the bottom, and born at the top, of various hierarchies. I'm certain that the people at the top think they earned it. They didn't. Second, maintaining these kinds of hierarchies does not happen as the result of some kind of natural process. It requires violence .

I'm working quite hard to ensure that my children will have a far greater head start than I did. Why should I not be able to pass on the fruit of my labor? Yes I know this is going to be a controversial question. I'm genuinely interested in what people's opinions are.

It is good if the society evens this out: it should not completely take away the fruits of your labor, because then your incentive to be productive will be low. But it also should ensure that less lucky children get a good start as well, to ensure that as many children as possible become productive citizens. To do the latter, the wealthy have to give up some of their wealth.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#375

Post by coldtea »

>Some social problems are blatantly obvious in daily life, while others are longer-term, more corrosive and perhaps mostly invisible. Lately I’ve been worrying about a problem of the latter kind: the erosion of personal ownership and what that will mean for our loyalties to traditional American concepts of capitalism and private property.

The "traditional American concepts" where the pioneering spirit and individualism (and of course various forms of protestantism and religious nuttery and so on).

Not consumer capitalism. It took a lot of advertising and nudging to turn the more independent 1920s and 30s American into a consumer, and even more to turn him into a consumer of today's proportions.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#376

Post by chiefalchemist »

Kalium wrote: post #331
qubex wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might add that Silicon Valley et al has not simply cleverly redefined the meaning of ’sharing’ to cover their rental practices, but even the meaning of community has been totally warped out of shape. A community used to be a group of geographically proximate people whose collective survival depended on getting over their sometimes conflicting mutual interests and opinions in order to survive; now we use the term ’c…

Personally, I view this as a distinct upgrade. Instead of being coerced into lots of interaction with people I may have nothing in common with except vague geographical proximity, I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies. To me, this isn't isolated loners. It's the first real community I've ever known. The first one I've ever actually felt like I was a part o…

> "I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies"

Have you stopped to consider the unintended consequences of this? Mainly, that you become so comfortable with lack of adversity and diversity (of ideas, etc.) that when the time comes to leave the bubble you're unprepared. You don't have the tools and mindset to adjust to those who are unlike you.

Yes. It's nice to find others similar to you. But just the same, there's also value in being an island and still being capable of interacting with strangers.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#378

Post by coldtea »

Kalium wrote: post #331
qubex wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I might add that Silicon Valley et al has not simply cleverly redefined the meaning of ’sharing’ to cover their rental practices, but even the meaning of community has been totally warped out of shape. A community used to be a group of geographically proximate people whose collective survival depended on getting over their sometimes conflicting mutual interests and opinions in order to survive; now we use the term ’c…

Personally, I view this as a distinct upgrade. Instead of being coerced into lots of interaction with people I may have nothing in common with except vague geographical proximity, I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies. To me, this isn't isolated loners. It's the first real community I've ever known. The first one I've ever actually felt like I was a part o…

>Personally, I view this as a distinct upgrade. Instead of being coerced into lots of interaction with people I may have nothing in common with except vague geographical proximity, I have the option of interacting with people who actually share my interests or concerns or hobbies.

I.e. echo chamber.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#379

Post by grimjack00 »

wott wrote: post #343
macleginn wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course, but all over the world is not needed: a company with a presence in whatever country you go for holidays/work is enough, so an app with a nearly global presence will get all the travelers' money automatically. (For instance, I never use Uber in my home country, but at the moment I am in Romania, and the fact that I could call a cab at the airport in a new city with zero hassle is very sweet; I imagine that…

If there is one place in a country where finding a cab has always been straightforward, that's an airport. I mean, it is easier to find a cab by walking through the airport doors than avoid the cabs there :-) That's really the place where Uber & Co add zero value.

> That's really the place where Uber & Co add zero value.

In my opinion, the added value with Uber at an airport is knowing the price up front. That's not always possible with whatever driver is first in line at the taxi stand.

Re: Americans Own Less Stuff, and That’s Reason to Be Nervous

#380

Post by chiefalchemist »

rapnie wrote: post #256
sandworm101 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Monopoly is if one corporation owns an entire market. This is about multiple corporations. The proper word is cartel or "corpocracy" which dislike as corporations are just a legal fiction. Someone still owns the corporation. The article isn't really about americans not owning stuff. It is about average americans not owning stuff. Poor, or at least not-rich, people are today less likely to own things like houses and c…

Plutocracy is the name of governance style where a few parties hold all the power. But on a corporate level oligopoly would be better. A few corporations dominating an entire market segment.

Sounds like the 70's film classic "Rollerball."
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