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yes, capitalism is myopic and you can justify many myopic conclusions by limiting yourself to its framework. > ... it's just that we look down upon the product
by exit 16y ago
yes, capitalism is myopic and you can justify many myopic conclusions by limiting yourself to its framework.
> ... it's just that we look down upon the product.
that's an amusing misdirection. it's actually more about the lives ruined and suffering experienced by way of the product.
> What is your definition of wealth? Paul Graham says, and I tend to agree with him, that wealth is "things people want". If people want these apps (or drugs), then the apps (and drugs) create wealth.
wealth is control over other people. having lots of money in a capitalist system is a proxy for being able to control lots of other people in this system.
taking advantage of neurological hooks (chemical in the case of drugs, or sensual in the case of advertising / apps / etc) is certainly one way to gain controller over others (by the proxy of money).
i suppose if your concerns are entirely contained within the bounds of playing that game (very much the case for many entrepreneurial types) there's no motivation to challenge its definition of "value".
- steveklabnik 16y ago> it's actually more about the lives ruined and suffering experienced by way of the product. This is an 'amusing misdirection,' to use your own words, about you forcing your own morality on others. There are plenty of people that use drugs without ruining their lives, no need to get high and mighty about it. > wealth is control over other people. Hey man, I'm an anarchist. I understand exactly what you're saying. But regardless of my own personal thoughts on the subject, that's not the way that this country is set up. As I said over here[1], it's just that we're talking about two different things. Within capitalism, kreci is creating value. If you'd like to discuss a different system, then you need to tell everyone that you're talking about something else. When on a forum about startups, I assume people are discussing the current system by default. 1: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1882865 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1882865