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> Tolkien deserves much more of my money than the author of the cookbook I bought a Costco and never read, but with single purchase they get roughly the same am

> Tolkien deserves much more of my money than the author of the cookbook I bought a Costco and never read, but with single purchase they get roughly the same amount of economic value from me. I think in a thriving society it would be fine for consumers to enjoy a value surplus from the products and services they buy. Having every bit of value a consumer obtains from a product monetized by the producer is a great way to move wealth from the bottom of the economic ladder to the top; it's a society of scarcity and not abundance. How did the popular imagination go from bountiful societies like the one in Star Trek to ideas like "You will own nothing and you will be happy" where you pay rent for everything you use. It's particularly galling that these ideas are spreading to information products, which would be freely copyable and available to everyone - a public treasure like no other - if not for artificial restrictions on such activities. I remember the "information wants to be free" attitude of hackers in the early 2000s. But now it's ok if we pay per instance for reading a book? Crazy stuff.

jodrellblank 4y ago
The real question is how did society get to a state where “you will be happy” is an evil goal that people copypaste everywhere nodding conspiratorially to each other? “You‘ll never guess what Mrs Jones told me about Agnes’ husband“ “Go on?” “Well, she was sitting at the table next to him in the cafe and overheard him saying he wanted to make Agnes happy!” “No!” “Yes! Can you believe it?” “The bastard!”
- AlexandrB 4y ago
  I think the common way to read "you will own nothing and you will be happy" is not as a prediction/statement, but a command about how people should feel. For example, if I told said "you will live naked in a ditch and you will be happy", the "you will be happy" part reads like a dictate about how you should feel about the "living in a ditch" situation. The obvious disconnect between telling people they will be paying monthly dues to a bunch of rent-seekers and that they will somehow feel happy about this situation even though it sounds, frankly, awful has the same effect.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  > The real question is how did society get to a state where “you will be happy” is an evil goal that people copypaste everywhere nodding conspiratorially to each other? I haven't noticed this at all. Where are people talking about being happy as an evil goal? The phrase "you will own nothing and be happy" is dystopian because it's not really saying that you'll be happy. It's more like a threat: "we will monetize every aspect of your existence and you better like it".

jodrellblank 4y ago

The real question is how did society get to a state where “you will be happy” is an evil goal that people copypaste everywhere nodding conspiratorially to each other? “You‘ll never guess what Mrs Jones told me about Agnes’ husband“ “Go on?” “Well, she was sitting at the table next to him in the cafe and overheard him saying he wanted to make Agnes happy!” “No!” “Yes! Can you believe it?” “The bastard!”

AlexandrB 4y ago
I think the common way to read "you will own nothing and you will be happy" is not as a prediction/statement, but a command about how people should feel. For example, if I told said "you will live naked in a ditch and you will be happy", the "you will be happy" part reads like a dictate about how you should feel about the "living in a ditch" situation. The obvious disconnect between telling people they will be paying monthly dues to a bunch of rent-seekers and that they will somehow feel happy about this situation even though it sounds, frankly, awful has the same effect.
JohnFen 4y ago
> The real question is how did society get to a state where “you will be happy” is an evil goal that people copypaste everywhere nodding conspiratorially to each other? I haven't noticed this at all. Where are people talking about being happy as an evil goal? The phrase "you will own nothing and be happy" is dystopian because it's not really saying that you'll be happy. It's more like a threat: "we will monetize every aspect of your existence and you better like it".