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By real work I mean the process of actual wealth creation. I'm arguing that certain types of work are net positive wealth creation while others are net negative
by trophycase 9y ago
By real work I mean the process of actual wealth creation. I'm arguing that certain types of work are net positive wealth creation while others are net negative, meaning that more useful resources are consumed in the process of creating that good/service than the benefit to the system that this good/service provides.
Take my Assassin's Creed example. Consider all the electricity used to run their computers, the food and shelter needed for engineers and marketers, the raw materials needed for game parts and distribution. These resources are essentially burned or are outflows of the system, while providing very little inflow (that is directly or indirectly contributing to the creation of real wealth). The result is a net outflow of real wealth of the system.
As more and more people shift to such jobs, productivity gains in "net inflow" work will be partially distributed to those working in "net outflow" jobs.
I'm also not arguing that all software jobs are net outflow. Something like Google for example, could be argued as a net inflow, because fast information retrieval and distribution can greatly improve the overall efficiencies of the economic system.
- quacked 9y agoWhat's your working definition of 'real wealth'?
- trophycase 9y agoA little hand-wavy but I will try to give some sort of definition. If we assume that wealth can be measured with a non-negative real number, then we will set the zero point of the scale at total human extinction. If we set such a zero point, then we will assume that moving away from zero, that is moving away from extinction, is moving in a positive direction. Therefore, anything which contributes to the robustness and stability of the system could be argued as "wealth" or "valuable".
- stale2002 9y agoSo you believe that the only thing that is valuable is increasing human survival? What about quality of life? I could make everyone survive better by locking them up in a room, safe from all outside hazards. Is that valuable?
- skookumchuck 9y ago> actual wealth creation Actual wealth creation is creating things that other people want to buy. This applies to games as much as it does to food.
- mykull 9y agoGetting people to buy something doesn't always mean you provided them value. Some methods of making a buck are exploitative, like if they rely on deception, for example. There are scenarios where "middlemen" exist to take part of the wealth and not create any. Or where people are paid to be destructive for various reasons. A corrupt politician paid (in campaign donations, whatever) to pass a law to create a barrier to a market is being destructive, not constructive. It is a net loss overall.