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Who thought tech companies were ever a friend? I don't see a problem with massive corporations so long as they get that way by offering the best good or servic
by qudat 9y ago
Who thought tech companies were ever a friend?
I don't see a problem with massive corporations so long as they get that way by offering the best good or service at the lowest price (natural monopolies). If they achieve their status by partaking in political activity or otherwise using their power in a coercive manner (coercive monopolies) then that's where I draw the line.
There lies the biggest problem with powerful institutions, how can we create a political system that renders political clout benign?
If governments had no power then growing monoliths couldn't extract that power to begin with, right?
It seems at the core of any coercive monopoly there sits government force.
This is where I think the article got it wrong, it's not tech that is the problem, but the solution. We should be looking for ways to render government force obsolete through technological advancements in order to completely eradicate coercive monopolies (and by proxy, monolithic institutions) once and for all.
- mtgx 9y agoGoogle played a good trick with the whole "Don't be evil" mantra, for as long as it lasted. Most people used to think Google could do no wrong in the past. I think their image has noticeably gone downhill since they stopped even pretending to abide by that mantra. As Schmidt realized, too, the mantra allowed Google employees to have a reason for pushing back when they thought something doesn't feel right. So I suppose the Google execs eventually started "de-training" them from thinking about it. > "Now, when I showed up, I thought this was the stupidest rule ever, because there's no book about evil except maybe, you know, the Bible or something." In the end, though, he believes it has worked, by giving employees a way to point out things they find unethical. https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/13/4326424/eric-schmidt-once-thought-dont-be-evil-was-stupidest-rule-ever https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/13/4326424/eric-schmidt-once...
- Toboe 9y ago>I don't see a problem with massive corporations so long as they get that way by offering the best good or service at the lowest price (natural monopolies) What about massive corporations that grew naturally to the point of having no competition and then start using their power coercively?