tanteOct 28

We keep seeing startups who want to replace something valuable (therapy, counseling, tutoring, artistic expression) with some tech bullshit under the banner of democratization. But why do we need to invest so much in bad tech that doesn't work instead of just giving people access to what they need?

This is a sign for how fucking atrophied our mental muscles are. How limited our space for thinking about how things should be.

You want to democratize "going to therapy"? Make it "free" as in paid by socialized healthcare. You want to democratize "making art"? Give people money and free time to express themselves.

None of these things are meaningfully addressed through tech. It's always about the political struggle to give people what they need and deserve.

Show threadPhil
@tante People need to start getting a whole lot more skeptical of the claims of tech companies and VCs, and recognize that there's no such thing as a neutral or apolitical technology. IMO this is crappy not because doing therapy over a video call is necessarily bad, but because of who controls the terms of those calls (some shithead who is absolutely going to exploit their users once they've gotten their monopoly).
Oct 29 at 9:08pmWeb