Can’t stop thinking about this in the context of tech. Of course technological advances are a good thing, but isn’t there a point where progress for the sake of progress stifles any productive use? Who exactly is benefiting here? A decade or so ago, I was still able to communicate how I’m communicating now, but things have gotten substantially worse.
I’m looking at the state of the internet and can’t help but look at how every algorithmic breakthrough has just been used to gather data for marketing purposes or targeted advertisements. Lmao and I don’t even know how you can consider that progress to be honest.
The wildest part about this is that you don’t even need to be a leftist to agree. Everyone hates targeted ads and marketing bullshit besides people who make money in marketing and advertisement.
Yes of course there is a clear separation. Anyone other than 🌐 heads would agree.
Is it just leftists who believe in such a separation though? It shouldn’t be this way, but I feel like this is a radical take to grillers
Any time I’ve said any variation of this in real life I’ve been compared to uncle Ted
This question is part of a minor discourse on the left rn. Jason Hickel wrote a short minor piece in this month's edition of Monthly Review about it called "On Technology and Degrowth": that is worth reading. (In fact the whole Monthly Review for this Summer is a big double issue on degrowth and ecosocialism, might be worth picking up a copy to read over there's a lot there.)
This brings us to a critically important point. We must be clear about what growth actually is. It is not innovation, or social progress, or improvements in well-being. It is very narrowly defined as an increase in aggregate production, as measured in market prices (GDP). GDP makes no distinction between $100 worth of tear gas and $100 worth of health care. This metric is not intended to measure what is important for people, but rather what is important for capitalism. Of course, what is important for capitalism is not to meet human needs, or achieve social progress, but rather to maximize and accumulate capital. If social progress and well-being are our goal, it is not the market value of aggregate production that matters but rather what we are producing (tear gas or health care?), and whether people have access to essential goods and services (is the health care privatized or universal?). This is basic to socialist thought.
Yet the "it's the economy, stupid" talking point still won't die.
In order to keep the campaign on message, Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign headquarters that read:
- Change vs. more of the same.
- The economy, stupid
- Don't forget health care.
Although the sign was intended for an internal audience of campaign workers, the second phrase became a de facto slogan for the Clinton election campaign.
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_the_economy,_stupid#History
And, of course, they forgot point 3.
What a depressing piece. All wonderful solutions, but most of them require westerners to be self-critical and address how they get their treats. Fuck
I guess I didn’t even realize how my question so directly relates to capitalism- which further proves the fact that people who tout “ capitalism is everything I don’t like” should be treated to forced re-education 🥰
Also, a lot of things just started clicking for me and my pseudo-Marxist brain. Of course westerners don’t care about climate change because it is directly tied to the exploitation on the other side of the world that gives them their treats. The people it’s going to affect first live in the global south and most don’t even know what goes on there so they can have some sense of comfort.
Tech changes for the sake of change because it needs a reason to keep people working. Business won't allow people to sit and just maintain a completed product cos they don't want to pay people to work 1 hour a week so features must be added everything must be scaled more more more. The result is a bunch of crap with needless changes that gets worse and worse with more and more data harvesting added since thats the only "feature" anyone can think of adding in.
So many advances in tech serve mostly to just harvest more data for an advertising bubble thats sure to burst at some point. And the things that would actually help people aren't profitable so are never made.
efficiency is a kind of progress that doesn't make growth happen. it isn't universally good though, of course
I truly believe
was onto something. Too bad he was an eco fascist and is rightly regarded as completely unhinged.He was only partially correct. Development and increases in productivity are all good. However those increases require artificial inflation of consumer markets to remain profitable and lead to crises of overproduction and ecological ruin.
When you remove profitability and standardize the capacity of consumer markets along needs, you reduce working hours, increase productivity, and decrease waste.
The issue is that
never really drew the connection between growth of markets and production to feed capitals and growth of production to reduce laboring hours.He continued the proud radical liberal tradition of eschewing Marxism in favor of trying to solve capitalism on its own terms.
Everyone hates targeted ads and marketing bullshit besides people who make money in marketing and advertisement.
More recently, I've witnessed many people that don't skip ads, watch ads on TV, and actually got annoyed when I told them I can help them use an adblocker. Most gave the reason that they're "entertaining". What can I say.
Why does everyone want to be constantly entertained
I just put them on mute if I don’t have an adblocker handy
Indeed, especially those mobile game ads. I don't know how anyone can stay sane watching those.
this sounds right up my alley
