What #RalphBorsodi called "the factory system of production", coupled with how we allocate land, is at the root of our troubles.

The existence of the #factory is predicated upon continuous operation, and dependent upon ever increasing "efficiency" to remain profitable. The inevitable result is #enshittification of everything/everyone/everywhere, and the intrusion of this mentality into all spheres of living. In short, #neoliberalism and #neofeudalism.

https://climatejustice.social/@chu/112655385186563124

#economics

Chu 朱 (@[email protected])

What do we need? Our energy consumption is killing us. Literally. Everything we do and buy requires some input of energy. I ask you to consider do you need that before you do or buy a thing. We all need food, we can reduce our meat. Do we need this year's "hot" coloured top? If all your clothes are threadbare and shot, go for it. If you have perfectly functioning clothes, no, you really don't need that. Do you need to replace a new phone? We need communication in the modern world. If your phone won't turn on anymore, than yes. If you just want the latest... please find something better to do with that cash. Do you need to mow the lawn? If the city is coming after you, sure... but even better, dig that crap up and replace it with pollinator friendly flowers. You will thank yourself in the future as you laugh at your neighbours mowing their lawns while you sit around having a drink. Do we need billionaires? Absolutely not. We can either tax them now or if history tells us anything, guillotine them later when society falls apart. Think about the energy use of everything around you. Think about the government policies that enable our mass murder. Vote against those policies. Punch nazis.

Climate Justice Social

I highly encourage people to read Borsodi's "This Ugly Civilization" (1929). You can read it for free at the Soil and Health Library. It will be in the public domain on January 1, 2025.

https://soilandhealth.org/wp-content/uploads/0303critic/030302borsodi.ugly/030302borsodi.toc.html

THIS UGLY CIVILIZATION: TABLE OF CONTENTS

Borsodi's 1927 book, "The Distribution Age", describes how it is inevitable that marketing, distribution, and sales costs will over time make up a larger and larger percentage of the cost of goods sold, and it is this factor that impels the drive toward manufacturing efficiency, causing a decline in quality of the finished goods, as the only factor of production which is elastic.

Factory made goods become popular because they can be produced at low cost and high quality, leading to saturation.

But the factory cannot be shut down. It must continue to churn out widgets. Once smaller scale producers are driven out of the market, consumers are left with no other reasonable choices, and so in order to maintain profitability, prices rise and quality suffers.

This is not about "capitalism", it is about what we value. As Borsodi adroitly points out, this is also true under "socialism". The factory must produce, the roads must roll, the drive for ever increasing efficiency is relentless.