6 ms·

Isn't that the point the article is making? That in late-stage capitalism, all actual work is invariably outsourced, with only management and profits retained?

by ethbro 7y ago

bjornsing 7y ago
I'm not sure I personally see the link to outsourcing. But I do agree with the quote in the OP that (in my own words) once innovation is no longer the main differentiator you typically see the “power and money people” take over. So I guess you could say that Americans should count themselves lucky that they still have large sections of the economy where innovation is the differentiator.
- mncharity 7y ago
  > once innovation is no longer the main differentiator you typically see the “power and money people” take over. Someone contrasting engineering culture at Tesla and current "old auto", described part of the latter as being fine with someone else making the actual vehicle, and then just slapping a brand on it. Suggesting causality can go the other way too - innovation is still a differentiator, but is deemphasized by a management culture focused elsewhere.
  - codemonkeyius 7y ago
    Re: the link to outsourcing - is it not clear? Without scapegoating the cheaper external workers - as the business gets commodified, management sees less and less of the value in the internal expertise and institutional memory. You start to see a 50-year-old engineer not as a battle-hardened mentor who can be a leader for your teams and instead as a highly-paid shambling pile with less "productivity" than a fresh grad.
  - DayDollar 7y ago
    Its not deemphasized- its actively sabotaged on many levels. Innovation destabilizes these feudalistic systems, the whole environment from the investers (major pension funds), to the regulators and the CEOs is designed to prevent disruption of any kind. Add to that IP-Laws and patent minefields, with whole industries owned by one owner, and you get why we are not getting anywhere, while the need to move was never greater today.

Isn't that the point the article is making? That in late-stage capitalism, all actual work is invariably outsourced, with only management and profits retained?

by ethbro 7y ago

Isn't that the point the article is making? That in late-stage capitalism, all actual work is invariably outsourced, with only management and profits retained?

bjornsing 7y ago

I'm not sure I personally see the link to outsourcing. But I do agree with the quote in the OP that (in my own words) once innovation is no longer the main differentiator you typically see the “power and money people” take over. So I guess you could say that Americans should count themselves lucky that they still have large sections of the economy where innovation is the differentiator.

mncharity 7y ago
> once innovation is no longer the main differentiator you typically see the “power and money people” take over. Someone contrasting engineering culture at Tesla and current "old auto", described part of the latter as being fine with someone else making the actual vehicle, and then just slapping a brand on it. Suggesting causality can go the other way too - innovation is still a differentiator, but is deemphasized by a management culture focused elsewhere.
- codemonkeyius 7y ago
  Re: the link to outsourcing - is it not clear? Without scapegoating the cheaper external workers - as the business gets commodified, management sees less and less of the value in the internal expertise and institutional memory. You start to see a 50-year-old engineer not as a battle-hardened mentor who can be a leader for your teams and instead as a highly-paid shambling pile with less "productivity" than a fresh grad.
- DayDollar 7y ago
  Its not deemphasized- its actively sabotaged on many levels. Innovation destabilizes these feudalistic systems, the whole environment from the investers (major pension funds), to the regulators and the CEOs is designed to prevent disruption of any kind. Add to that IP-Laws and patent minefields, with whole industries owned by one owner, and you get why we are not getting anywhere, while the need to move was never greater today.