8 ms·

What if we could keep them, but make them work for the good of us all? I'd like to see them 'multi-nationalized' - not for one nation, but for the world. All

What if we could keep them, but make them work for the good of us all? I'd like to see them 'multi-nationalized' - not for one nation, but for the world. All the major offenders, all the companies who have wreaked havoc on us: Fossil fuel shitheads who sponsored climate doubt, arms manufacturers who lobbied us into illegal wars, social media companies responsible for polluting the minds of our most vulnerable, advertisers who greenwash and whitewash crimes. It's only a fantasy, for now - we can't even prevent our tax dollars from arming mass murderers. We need to do something though. I'm sick of paying for the privilege of being gaslit, and tired of subsidizing the strip-mining of the planet. Switch the major offenders and monopolies by force to a co-op model, and let's see if we can't turn the fate of the planet around. "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings." - Le Guin

robertlagrant 2y ago
> we can't even prevent our tax dollars from arming mass murderers Quite the opposite - taxes are the only things that arm countries.
- callalex 2y ago
  That’s not true: for example the US government (CIA) in the past century has also been funded through shady drug deals. This isn’t fringe conspiracy stuff either, they freely admit to past activities and have shown no willingness to change.
NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
> What if we could keep them, but make them work for the good of us all? What if we could tame these gigantic, bloodthirsty monsters that casually wander into big cities and just start stomping skyscrapers down for shits and giggles? Think of how wonderful it would be to have one of those creatures under my control!!! > I'd like to see them 'multi-nationalized' - not for one nation, but for the world. Nothing would make such a kaiju safer than putting it beyond the reach of even sovereign nations. And when it's under the direction of some weird-assed UN committee no one's heard of, that has Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and China put in charge, think of all the wonderfully progressive things that will happen then!
- mandmandam 2y ago
  I mean, the kaiju are kind of a great example - weren't they fought by everyone coming together to build giant monsters of their own but with humans making the decisions? > when it's under the direction of some weird-assed UN committee no one's heard of Er, not what I had in mind, but there's probably some useful energy behind that pessimism.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    Then what did you have in mind? Did you just not play the tape to the end to come to the same conclusion of how this new co-op would be run/organized?
    - mandmandam 2y ago
      There are many examples of successful coops to choose from [0]. Seems a bit early to try and pin down all the details. I'm not an expert. What I know for certain is that the current system can't continue. Try playing the tape that's currently in the player to the end. It's not very pretty: Ask any climate scientist. Ask any historian, any ecologist. Even (or especially) the billionaires know the current trajectory is not great; they're building apocalypse bunkers at a record pace. Seems a lot of people expect someone to come along and offer a perfect solution out of the box, and somehow not get taken out by the people who like things just as they are. I don't think that's reasonable. There needs to be a critical mass of people pushing for radical change, or we're pretty much fucked. 0 - https://ica.coop/en/media/news/new-ranking-worlds-300-largest-co-operatives-confirms-strength-and-good-health-movement https://ica.coop/en/media/news/new-ranking-worlds-300-larges...

robertlagrant 2y ago

> we can't even prevent our tax dollars from arming mass murderers Quite the opposite - taxes are the only things that arm countries.

callalex 2y ago
That’s not true: for example the US government (CIA) in the past century has also been funded through shady drug deals. This isn’t fringe conspiracy stuff either, they freely admit to past activities and have shown no willingness to change.

NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago

> What if we could keep them, but make them work for the good of us all? What if we could tame these gigantic, bloodthirsty monsters that casually wander into big cities and just start stomping skyscrapers down for shits and giggles? Think of how wonderful it would be to have one of those creatures under my control!!! > I'd like to see them 'multi-nationalized' - not for one nation, but for the world. Nothing would make such a kaiju safer than putting it beyond the reach of even sovereign nations. And when it's under the direction of some weird-assed UN committee no one's heard of, that has Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and China put in charge, think of all the wonderfully progressive things that will happen then!

mandmandam 2y ago
I mean, the kaiju are kind of a great example - weren't they fought by everyone coming together to build giant monsters of their own but with humans making the decisions? > when it's under the direction of some weird-assed UN committee no one's heard of Er, not what I had in mind, but there's probably some useful energy behind that pessimism.
- dylan604 2y ago
  Then what did you have in mind? Did you just not play the tape to the end to come to the same conclusion of how this new co-op would be run/organized?
  - mandmandam 2y ago
    There are many examples of successful coops to choose from [0]. Seems a bit early to try and pin down all the details. I'm not an expert. What I know for certain is that the current system can't continue. Try playing the tape that's currently in the player to the end. It's not very pretty: Ask any climate scientist. Ask any historian, any ecologist. Even (or especially) the billionaires know the current trajectory is not great; they're building apocalypse bunkers at a record pace. Seems a lot of people expect someone to come along and offer a perfect solution out of the box, and somehow not get taken out by the people who like things just as they are. I don't think that's reasonable. There needs to be a critical mass of people pushing for radical change, or we're pretty much fucked. 0 - https://ica.coop/en/media/news/new-ranking-worlds-300-largest-co-operatives-confirms-strength-and-good-health-movement https://ica.coop/en/media/news/new-ranking-worlds-300-larges...