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Incentivize the economy to not overproduce bullshit ad nauseam. Vote with your wallet, and push for it culturally, or spiritually - offer alternative experience
by monopoledance 5y ago
Incentivize the economy to not overproduce bullshit ad nauseam. Vote with your wallet, and push for it culturally, or spiritually - offer alternative experiences and goals to consumerism. Stop working for companies producing products nobody asked for, which are made for “economic growth” as a goal in it self. (If your factual constraints allow for it.)
As long as there is this enormous pressure to sell you ever more things, nothing will change for the better… just change: More influencers, more product placements and sponsor guided “content“, more MLM type bullshit all around. Someone will figure out how to recruit your friends and family to explicitly advertise the next innovation in problem creation inside your last domain of unquestioned trust and honesty - mark my words! How about a gamified “hit” on your friends? Getting big-data intelligence briefings and some psychological guidance on someone you used to care about, and some shitty internet points as reward for their conversion: “Agent 1337biz, your next target is your colleague John Doe. The file is transmitted as we speak. Further our influence, your loyalty will be rewarded! Hail, Hydra”.
- whimsicalism 5y agoPlatitudes. > Stop working for companies producing products nobody asked for What is this in reference to? Nobody asked for Google to create their ad marketplace? No, there is huge demand for and complicity with targeted ads among millions of small businesses.
- monopoledance 5y agoWorking for Google and Facebook has other ethical implications…. but that’s not what I was referring to. > huge demand That’s my point. Stop working for those small and big businesses in need of pushing solutions to problems they invented. Tho, you seem to imply an ideological/apologetical take on the economy, which isn’t exactly helpful, in any case. The tautology “it exists because it exists” can comfortably offer absolution for anything and anyone, because no one is in control, no one has responsibility. I get the appeal for coping, but it’s a self-fulfilling-prophecy at best, religious glorification of apathy at worst. It is not, however, the inherent nature of things.
- Angostura 5y ago> Stop working for those small and big businesses in need of pushing solutions to problems they invented. I've been trying to think of examples, but it's difficult. Google originally thrived because its Search engine pushed a solution for a well-established problem. It's ad business solved a problem for advertisers - and site operators who wanted things simplified. Even Facebook offered a way for people to keep in touch using a medium more convenient than e-mail.
- monopoledance 5y agoI don’t believe you. Landfills rapidly filling with last year’s “innovation“ and people getting increasingly dissatisfied with their jobs, because they lost touch with the actual product they are allegedly working on, should be an indication on a larger scale… Apart from all those wonders of petrol-chemistry, like fast-fashion: Short smartphone cycles with minuscule improvements; Uber and food delivery services offering nothing, but minor convenience in exchange for a race to the bottom in worker exploitation (very genius. such innovation.); e-scooter sharing services disposing LiPo batteries in every larger city’s water bodies; X as a service; everyone having advice for sale; every fart commercially exploited… Sorry, I really don’t believe you, if you tell me you haven’t noticed the economy getting high on its own supply. C’mon, whole sectors are “content creation” and engagement manufacturing for the sake of selling ads, or creating yet another f2p mobile game optimized for getting the kidz addicted. I mean, just turn off adblock and see for yourself. Someone made all that shit!
- cutemonster 5y agoGoogle doesn't sell scooters and food delivery -- other companies do, and advertise about that via Google. Google's ads service is something those companies (the advertisers) want. And at the same time, Google has been acting unethically.
- monopoledance 5y agoNot sure what you are trying to tell me.
- cacois 5y agoYou aren't addressing the question. The poster asked what specifically tech workers could do. You are giving examples of things _anyone_ could so to help fix the situation, aside from "just stop working for them".
- bardan 5y ago"Vote with your wallet" might as well be "stop thinking about it", especially when it comes to a niche site like Hacker News.
- monopoledance 5y agoMarketing said I need to lead with libertarian virtue signaling before playing The Internationale on HN.
- webmobdev 5y ago"Vote with your wallet" is crony capitalist-speak for don't complain to the government to protect your consumer rights and / or create a fair market for small businesses too.
- mrhands556 5y agoWhat if buying useless shit gives certain people some enjoyment and happiness? If nobody bought anything what would we do for money?
- quickthrower2 5y agoWhat is useful / useless can be subjective, but remember big companies are trying to manipulate to get people addicted to their stuff be it sugary foods, internet gambling (inc. crypto), tech gadgets, alcohol or whatever. If no one bought useless shit (again what is that?) and just got say long lasting furniture, decent food, shelter etc, you’d have a situation where everyone could live based on fewer hours of work most likely. What to do with the time? If bored then volunteer? Talk to your family and friends? Hobbies? There is plenty of economy outside of useless shit. I don’t see how we can get around needing police/fire/hospitals/defence/research/science etc.
- monopoledance 5y agoLol. If nobody buys anything, why would you need money?