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I think one issue with this viewpoint is that while a successful company may be doing wonderful things for its users... not everyone is a user. Even the users t
by tekdude 6y ago
I think one issue with this viewpoint is that while a successful company may be doing wonderful things for its users... not everyone is a user. Even the users themselves are not users 100% of the time. So, even if a company is not actively exploiting its workforce, customers, or suppliers, it might be exploiting its non-users without ever giving them much opportunity to object.
Again, Airbnb is probably the best example: users who book stays and users who rent out rooms/homes may love the service, but other people who live in those neighborhoods or buildings may not. Airbnb overrides those objections by exploiting a few issues: ambiguities in local laws; inadequate enforcement agencies who cannot handle the number of listings in their area; the inability of local residents to sufficiently organize and force their local governments to prioritize enforcement, etc...
- coward8675309 6y agoAirbnb is a great example: While I love the company's product — I've stayed at Airbnbs dozens of times — the company does generate negative externalities, and the company has done what I'd consider shady things (mostly astroturfing and other aggressive PR moves) to get itself past the profitability finish line. Once we get back to the world, I'll surely use Airbnb again, but I have a nuanced attitude about the the pros and cons of the company's offerings, both as a stayer and a citizen. What PG doesn't address (which isn't his goal, so no dig intended) is a bigger issue than the immortal souls of founders and billionaires: Bad things happen just as often as a result of good people with good intentions as they do from the diabolical acts of sociopaths. That truth is equally under-appreciated by both American progressives and the well-meaning people who help create big problems even as they create joy for billions.
- ohashi 6y agoWonder if we will look at this like climate change that the oil companies knew about decades ago.
- canofbars 6y agoEveryone knew about this decades ago. It was even taught in schools as just basic facts and science before it became political.
- buzzerbetrayed 6y agoCould I get your source for this? I've never heard that climate change was taught in public school decades ago.
- wmeredith 6y agoI was taught about greenhouse gasses in 6th grade science. (In the 1980's)
- cgriswald 6y agoWe were taught about climate change in the first grade in the early 80's with some fairly graphic imagery (think gas masks and deserts). More of the focus was on ozone depletion and acid rain. I don't remember any of it being political or controversial until I was in high school in the 90's.
- cwkoss 6y agoI think "this" in this context refers to profiting off externalities.
- jbay808 6y agoI remember first learning about it in elementary school in ~1997.
- avindroth 6y agoYou can’t really account for every externality, without also considering positive externalities.