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258

Are We Transitioning From Capitalism to Silicon Serfdom? (jacobin.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Are We Transitioning From Capitalism to Silicon Serfdom?::The idea that we are entering an era of techno-feudalism that will be worse than capitalism is chilling and controversial. We asked former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to elucidate this idea, explain how we got here, and map out some alternatives.

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[+] [email protected] -9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

Can someone explain how these organizations 'undermine the economy and democracy'?

there's room for arguments regarding exploited workers in any industry, but tech is usually compensated well , at least compared to some industry. Maybe they are not compensated well in other developing nations?
not sure how cloud/tech companies undermine democracy or economies

[–] [email protected] 36 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Directly: They lobby governments and their size means they can be more powerful than the governments they're trying to influence. Do you think the lobbying is for the benefit of society?
Indirectly: monopolies and other predatorycorporate behaviour like data selling and privacy erosion.

[+] [email protected] -9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

more powerful than the government

That's probably a matter of perception on my part. In the US, I don't see them that way. They still get called to the carpet by Congress and fined. Sometimes I think the fines are low enough they consider it just a cost of doing business.

I don't think small nations have that same feeling, especially when dealing with a US based company, or a national customer base that's large enough to make them feel it if they were lost.

data selling and privacy

Well, at least the EU is fighting on those fronts. Props to them.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They get yelled at by old men in procedures that typically make their interrogators look foolish at best, then are fined what amounts to a minor rounding error and change nothing. Because for the time being, congress and the donors that get congress elected benefit from the absurd profits being collected.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Right? All the fuckers yelling at them are 70-90 years old and don't even understand the shit they are yelling at him about. They certainly understand how their portfolio is doing, though.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Read or listen to Yanis explaining the concept he described as techno feudalism. He typically does a great job at it.