6 ms·
Because facebook is a handy label for all forms of malicious capitalism. And the excesses of malicious capitalism are becoming sufficiently extreme that people
by Super_Jambo 9y ago
Because facebook is a handy label for all forms of malicious capitalism. And the excesses of malicious capitalism are becoming sufficiently extreme that people are starting to notice. It's much easier to notice this in new technologies rather than old ones you're already comfortable with. So facebook gets the flak, which is deserved but lots of other people avoid it.
Take soft drinks which are terrible for peoples health. Your profit comes from:
1) Convincing people that buying your drink will make them popular & happy.
2) Convincing the government to keep corn subsidies.
3) Convincing everyone that calories in calories out and self control are the _real_ method to health. Our sugar water isn't at fault it's your personal weakness!
We're in a situation where powerful companies use their economic clout to buy off the government and convince the population of falsehoods so they can make more profit.
This isn't new but since we've gotten pretty optimised on at solving genuine human needs (companies vs entropy) is much harder to profit from than fooling suckers into bad choices (companies vs irrational monkey brains).
So now all our most profitable companies largely work to create little anti-competitive fiefdoms and to fool people into harming themselves. So of course people are going to point out that this is terrible and we should probably do something to regulate it's excess.
- ams6110 9y agoA soft drink maker's profit comes from making something its customers like and want to pay for. Busybodies notwithstanding.
- maxxxxx 9y agoYou forgot the part of shaping public opinion that their products are not a health issue and having the public subsidize their main ingredient. Even if you don't drink soft drinks you still subsidize health effects and corn and sugar.
- specialist 9y agoIf soft drink mfgs had to actually pay for the water, sugar, pollution, and diabetes treatments, they wouldn't be profitable. Externalize costs, privatize profits.
- pixl97 9y agoA methamphetamine dealers profit comes from making something their customers like and want to pay for... etc.
- groby_b 9y agoThe same applies to drug dealers. Busybodies notwithstanding. But underneath that simplistic surface view, you're dealing with somebody who inflicts cost on society as a whole to extract profit for themselves. And they extract it in a way that individuals don't necessarily care to fix. And so, you'll need somebody to stand up for a functioning society. That would then be your "busybodies". (Sure, there's the libertarian fantasy of complete self-determination. Which inevitably leads to a might-makes-right world. Most of us have decided long ago we'd rather live in a civilized society)
- rayvd 9y agoI worry far more about malicious collectivism.