it was interesting to read that shortly after reading doctorow's new novel, 'walkaway'. having the book fresh in my mind really highlighted how asymmetry of own

it was interesting to read that shortly after reading doctorow's new novel, 'walkaway'. having the book fresh in my mind really highlighted how asymmetry of ownership was built into latitude's dna, and was practically its raison d'etre. the sad thing is of late this business model has become widespread - the party with capital to seed the enterprise wants to retain ownership and control, but they depend for a large fraction of their labour into selling volunteers the fantasy that they are part of "building something together". you often end up with a beautiful, vibrant structure emerging from the volunteers, which is then coopted (and all too frequently destroyed) when the owners try to assert their ownership by way of more explicitly capturing the created value. heck, the person behind little free library has trademarked and is monetising the name https://littlefreelibrary.myshopify.com/collections/charter-signs https://littlefreelibrary.myshopify.com/collections/charter-...