Aral BalkanSep 26, 2023

Enshittification isn’t things that were not shit becoming shit; they were always shit, you just didn’t feel it.

Surveillance capitalism isn’t some horrible corruption of capitalism, it’s just capitalism in the age of the ubiquitous digital network.

The problem isn’t things that were good becoming bad. The problem is things that have always been bad finally negatively affecting even those with bucketloads of privilege who are now attempting to explain away why they were ok with it all before.

Show threadJonathan D. Cope, Esq.Sep 26, 2023
@aral Interesting thread. I don't know of any ethics that ever applied to capitalism. Ethics is irrelevant, and contrary, to the aim of capitalism which is to make the maximum profit for the owner. The rule closest to an ethical standard in business is "caveat emptor" or "buyer beware."
Show threadAlastair Cooper

@aral @Cirdan I think for several decades most first world countries (even including the US though less so) have operated as social democracies whereby they are fundamentally capitalist but have recognised at least some need for major public involvement in core parts of society and in providing a safety net.

But now what we're seeing is a move towards a sort of pseudo-libertarian capitalism where that is being taken away, with what is left being only for the very rich. I'm not on the libertarian right but true right libertarianism ought not to protect the elite either.

Sep 26, 2023 at 10:52pmWeb
Show threadJonathan D. Cope, Esq.Sep 27, 2023
@alastair87 @aral I think that's a fair statement. Two economists have stirred the American pot, Milton Friedman and James Buchanan. In 1970, Friedman said that the sole purpose of a business was to make money for it's owners. Shareholders have since taken that concept to heart. James Buchanan has espoused a libertarian theme, buttressed by old Southern philosophy; no money spent on the poor, especially the Blacks, no taxes except for defense.