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> I.e. everyone is treated equally, which is an ideal under the rule of law Sure it's branded as an ideal in our profoundly corrupt societies. But would "equal

> I.e. everyone is treated equally, which is an ideal under the rule of law Sure it's branded as an ideal in our profoundly corrupt societies. But would "equal treatment" bring equality? In this system, we are all free to own a castle or to work 12h/day in the mines from the age of 8. But however impartial the treatment of individuals the system is still meant for profound inequality and exploitation. Of course i agree that at least here in France we are very very far off impartial treatment. Like you pointed out, the rich, the powerful and the cops are above the law and we lower people can get abused by the judicial system in many ways. I'm just trying to say that being impartial (or as the op says, ruthless) does not imply fairness. Capitalist impartiality still means billions of people starving and working the fields/mines/factories to maintain the cheap throwaway lifestyle of urban modernity. And yes, this state of things and the neoliberalisation of everything very much relies on computers. I think calling "oppression" is not a far stretch, but rather an understatement. On the history of computer oppression, you can do reading about "micro-management" and "bossware", and the restructuration of factories/administrations from the 80s to this day. Computers were and are an irreplaceable tool to enforce stupid policies that ruin the life and health of many working folks and the people they're supposed to serve.

stareatgoats 4y ago
> the system is still meant for profound inequality and exploitation I disagree that "the system" is "meant" for anything - the system is not a monolith even if certain parts of the machinery work well together, it is rarely a question of design, usually a mishmash of various historical phenomena and trends that happen to exist simultaneously. I think my plea for "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" perhaps got somewhat muted in my comment, placed at the very end like it was. So I agree that it would be oppressive to always treat everyone equal, the billionaire as well as the double working lone mom, and that machines many time is a prime tool for oppression and deflecting responsibility. But it would be problematic to start chipping away at the ideal of everyone's equality under the law in order to rectify such. This ideal is what stands between institutions like freedom, democracy and human rights on the one hand and corrupt states on the other, where the law is applied differently depending on who is on trial, and where the letter and intent of the law is flaunted in favor of pure (real) oppression. The problem really seems to be discerning where to apply "a little bit of this" vs where to apply "a little bit of that", a project that doesn't lend itself well to sweeping generalizations.

stareatgoats 4y ago

> the system is still meant for profound inequality and exploitation I disagree that "the system" is "meant" for anything - the system is not a monolith even if certain parts of the machinery work well together, it is rarely a question of design, usually a mishmash of various historical phenomena and trends that happen to exist simultaneously. I think my plea for "a little bit of this and a little bit of that" perhaps got somewhat muted in my comment, placed at the very end like it was. So I agree that it would be oppressive to always treat everyone equal, the billionaire as well as the double working lone mom, and that machines many time is a prime tool for oppression and deflecting responsibility. But it would be problematic to start chipping away at the ideal of everyone's equality under the law in order to rectify such. This ideal is what stands between institutions like freedom, democracy and human rights on the one hand and corrupt states on the other, where the law is applied differently depending on who is on trial, and where the letter and intent of the law is flaunted in favor of pure (real) oppression. The problem really seems to be discerning where to apply "a little bit of this" vs where to apply "a little bit of that", a project that doesn't lend itself well to sweeping generalizations.