4 ms·

I've been noticing how our economy keeps getting more Soviet as it becomes more top-down. We basically have central planning now with all the pathologies inhere

by jordanb 5mo ago

I've been noticing how our economy keeps getting more Soviet as it becomes more top-down. We basically have central planning now with all the pathologies inherent in that system, but unlike the soviets we just have a bunch of guys who happened to get rich or bribe the right people running our GOSPLAN.

CaptainTaboo 5mo ago
Things definitely feel 'Soviet' at my company. AI usage has been mandated by upper management (despite the fact that it doesn't really make sense or solve any problems in my particular job). They literally call it an "AI revolution." If you dare question the wisdom of the company's 'AI-First' policy, it's like you risk being singled out as a "counter-revolutionary."
- andrekandre 5mo ago
  > They literally call it an "AI revolution." they are calling it "the ai era" around these parts lol... "coding in the ai era" it sounds so big and meaningful, but actually its just vapid.
- RunningDroid 5mo ago
  > They literally call it an "AI revolution." People proclaiming an "AI revolution" seem to have inspired at least one song: https://genius.com/Worldview-ai-revolution-lyrics https://genius.com/Worldview-ai-revolution-lyrics
throw-the-towel 5mo ago
Yeah, the stories I've heard from Meta are very Soviet-coded. Like, trying to exceed the plan but not too much, because then the new plan would be hopelessly unachievable and you'd be punished for not meeting the insane expectations.
- nomorewords 5mo ago
  So like Publix company earnings? You have to beat by a little so you're not just flat but beat by too much and you look incompetent/suspicious
  - Shalomboy 5mo ago
    YES! I've been trying to explain this about Publix for a week now but I couldn't put it to words.
- pjc50 5mo ago
  Literally Stakhanovism.
nathan_compton 5mo ago
The problem is that the founding fathers believed in constraining the state because it could be abusive, but they should have understood that all power ought to be subject to the people, not just state power.
- xp84 5mo ago
  I wonder what the largest and most powerful private enterprise the FFs knew about was. I suppose they'd probably heard of the Hudson's Bay Company, but I have no idea how they really felt about the potential that many normal people would feel equal amounts of domination from companies with revenue much larger than most countries' GDP.
  - sojournerc 5mo ago
    The Dutch East India Company would've definitely been known, and was huge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company
  - kylestlb 5mo ago
    The FFs were literally bourgeois, the american revolution was a bourgeois revolution. They were the big private enterprises, and they wanted to stop giving a cut of their winnings to king george.
danaw 5mo ago
soviet-coded minus the cheap/free housing and public transit
- parineum 5mo ago
  And famine
  - pona-a 5mo ago
    Oh don't you worry your little head, it's coming in the next patch
  - jordanb 5mo ago
    Buckle up buttercup, a massive fertilizer shortage (from the Iran war) is currently combining with a super el nino (from climate change) to crush global crop yields this year.
kylestlb 5mo ago
Surprise - capitalism has always been top down planning. The bosses are the planners, my friend.

by jordanb 5mo ago

CaptainTaboo 5mo ago

Things definitely feel 'Soviet' at my company. AI usage has been mandated by upper management (despite the fact that it doesn't really make sense or solve any problems in my particular job). They literally call it an "AI revolution." If you dare question the wisdom of the company's 'AI-First' policy, it's like you risk being singled out as a "counter-revolutionary."

andrekandre 5mo ago
> They literally call it an "AI revolution." they are calling it "the ai era" around these parts lol... "coding in the ai era" it sounds so big and meaningful, but actually its just vapid.
RunningDroid 5mo ago
> They literally call it an "AI revolution." People proclaiming an "AI revolution" seem to have inspired at least one song: https://genius.com/Worldview-ai-revolution-lyrics https://genius.com/Worldview-ai-revolution-lyrics

throw-the-towel 5mo ago

Yeah, the stories I've heard from Meta are very Soviet-coded. Like, trying to exceed the plan but not too much, because then the new plan would be hopelessly unachievable and you'd be punished for not meeting the insane expectations.

nomorewords 5mo ago
So like Publix company earnings? You have to beat by a little so you're not just flat but beat by too much and you look incompetent/suspicious
- Shalomboy 5mo ago
  YES! I've been trying to explain this about Publix for a week now but I couldn't put it to words.
pjc50 5mo ago
Literally Stakhanovism.

nathan_compton 5mo ago

The problem is that the founding fathers believed in constraining the state because it could be abusive, but they should have understood that all power ought to be subject to the people, not just state power.

xp84 5mo ago
I wonder what the largest and most powerful private enterprise the FFs knew about was. I suppose they'd probably heard of the Hudson's Bay Company, but I have no idea how they really felt about the potential that many normal people would feel equal amounts of domination from companies with revenue much larger than most countries' GDP.
- sojournerc 5mo ago
  The Dutch East India Company would've definitely been known, and was huge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company
- kylestlb 5mo ago
  The FFs were literally bourgeois, the american revolution was a bourgeois revolution. They were the big private enterprises, and they wanted to stop giving a cut of their winnings to king george.

danaw 5mo ago

soviet-coded minus the cheap/free housing and public transit

parineum 5mo ago
And famine
- pona-a 5mo ago
  Oh don't you worry your little head, it's coming in the next patch
- jordanb 5mo ago
  Buckle up buttercup, a massive fertilizer shortage (from the Iran war) is currently combining with a super el nino (from climate change) to crush global crop yields this year.

kylestlb 5mo ago

Surprise - capitalism has always been top down planning. The bosses are the planners, my friend.