3 ms·

Can we please do useful things with software?

24 points by itamarst 9y ago

whipoodle 9y ago
I lose my patience with screeds like this, that choose not to examine the systemic reasons why this happens, instead preferring to yell at the dumb jerks who took jobs programming things the author doesn't like.
- justforFranz 9y ago
  First of all - you poor thing. But for reals, yes, capital seeks returns. And the people who need the most help have the least capital to make themselves interesting to capital. And that's why we need infrastructure spending from the government. But if anything, we have a government (in the USA) that's more interested in demolishing infrastructure that helps actual people, and instead wants to offer tax cuts to very, very rich people. Douglas Rushkoff is right. All these companies are going after the data-play when in fact, most people simply have no more money to spend. And one of the reasons why we got both Trump & Sanders during the primaries is because labor has no pricing power. Most people are afraid to ask for a raise, and apparently nobody with any power seems to give a damn. We have an increasingly supply-side economy. Normal people will reliably spend any extra dollar they get. But I bet you could throw money at super-rich companies like Apple all day long and it wouldn't increase demand for anything (perhaps except the stock price - if they had an aggressive dividend policy, I guess). And now they want "tax reform" which I suppose will lower corporate tax rates. That's not going to help generate demand.
justforFranz 9y ago
Amen and amen.
pards 9y ago
I've been thinking a lot about this topic recently. I've worked in finance my whole career (20 years) and am consistently amazed by the waste, inefficiency and wealth. Banks make money in spite of themselves. The UK challenger banks like Monzo, Atom and Starling have taken this on as their mission - to provide a great banking experience _for people_. My personal challenge is that I'm the sole income provider for my wife and two kids so salary/rate has always won, but maybe there's an employer out there that can both pay well and make the world a better place. Or maybe a few of us should start one.

24 points by itamarst 9y ago

I lose my patience with screeds like this, that choose not to examine the systemic reasons why this happens, instead preferring to yell at the dumb jerks who took jobs programming things the author doesn't like.

justforFranz 9y ago
First of all - you poor thing. But for reals, yes, capital seeks returns. And the people who need the most help have the least capital to make themselves interesting to capital. And that's why we need infrastructure spending from the government. But if anything, we have a government (in the USA) that's more interested in demolishing infrastructure that helps actual people, and instead wants to offer tax cuts to very, very rich people. Douglas Rushkoff is right. All these companies are going after the data-play when in fact, most people simply have no more money to spend. And one of the reasons why we got both Trump & Sanders during the primaries is because labor has no pricing power. Most people are afraid to ask for a raise, and apparently nobody with any power seems to give a damn. We have an increasingly supply-side economy. Normal people will reliably spend any extra dollar they get. But I bet you could throw money at super-rich companies like Apple all day long and it wouldn't increase demand for anything (perhaps except the stock price - if they had an aggressive dividend policy, I guess). And now they want "tax reform" which I suppose will lower corporate tax rates. That's not going to help generate demand.

justforFranz 9y ago

Amen and amen.

pards 9y ago

I've been thinking a lot about this topic recently. I've worked in finance my whole career (20 years) and am consistently amazed by the waste, inefficiency and wealth. Banks make money in spite of themselves. The UK challenger banks like Monzo, Atom and Starling have taken this on as their mission - to provide a great banking experience _for people_. My personal challenge is that I'm the sole income provider for my wife and two kids so salary/rate has always won, but maybe there's an employer out there that can both pay well and make the world a better place. Or maybe a few of us should start one.