Don't Get Fooled Again

Sun, 18 Feb 2024 03:36:40 -0500

The problem we have today is centralization of power and money.

In a capitalist society, they consolidate power by creating huge mega-corporations, and by designing their school system to teach everyone how to be employees of corporations.

In a communist society, they consolidate power by seizing all of the property and giving control to government bureaucrats & party leaders, and by designing their school system to teach everyone how to be employees of state-owned enterprises.

Notice that neither of them are teaching you how to empower yourself and become financially independent.

Why? Because they either want you to work for the big corporations, or they want you to work for state-owned enterprises, both of which are controlled by the people at the top. They know that they can easily control and manipulate you if you don't have financial freedom.

So, we have to be careful of how we react to this situation. We don't want the situation described in the song Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who. As the lyrics say: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."

So commercial enterprises aren't necessarily bad. I'd rather see a person start their own business or side gig or cooperative than have to work for a giant corporation.

For example, an artist should be able to sell the art they make. A web developer should be able to sell web design services directly to customers without having to work for someone else. A group of people should be able to create a team and start a company that has a positive impact on society. People should be able to create a cooperative or association that engages in commercial activities.

So we need to be supportive of small businesses, cooperatives, employee-owned companies, public benefit corporations, associations, not-for-profits, and other smaller operations, because that is what creates wealth and gives people independence, and makes them more resistant to the control and manipulation that is coming from the top.

They want to keep you poor to control you. They want you to reject wealth. That way you are poor and powerless and they can easily step on you.

So, I understand not wanting to support the mega-corporations, especially those who track you and treat people poorly. But just because someone wants to be compensated for their work, that is not a bad thing. After all, even employees expect to get paid for their work. Not all commercial activities are bad.

Society

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Scott M. Stolz

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:39:22 -0500 last edited: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:43:41 -0500

@phani00 (hubzilla) One important point he made in the article was:

The problem, in other words, isn't intermediation – it's power.

Basically, these platforms have too much control over your data, your content, and ultimately, you.

If you don't do it their way, according to their rules & standards, and according to their compensation structure, they can kick you off their platform and you lose access to millions of people (followers, customers, contacts, friends, family, etc.) and/or you lose access to vital services you need for your organization or yourself.

That in itself gives them way too much power. And that is not including any tracking and profiling and sales of your data to others that many of these mega-companies engage in.

That is one of the reasons why I am pushing for decentralized networks, and for tools specifically for the small players.

You are still going to need intermediaries since not everyone has the same skills. (For example, not everyone can build websites.) But ideally these intermediaries are smaller players too.

And the governance structure can be flexible. Some things can be run by the community, some by the employees, some by the founders and investors. You can have for profit, you can have not-for-profit, and you can have public benefit corporations, which is a hybrid. I am not dictating what style of organization one should have.

But I do think there needs to be choice and competition in the marketplace. Not cut throat competition. That is horrible. But a lot of different providers that people can choose from.

And we should also have data portability and the ability to host your own data. That is where the decentralized identity, social media, and networks come in.

There are a lot of things that should be done, and that many of us are working on. But the bottom line is we need to move away from organizations (public or private) that consolidate power, and instead need to bring the power back to the people.

phani00 (hubzilla)

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:22:55 -0500

yep, cory doctorow says pretty much the same, and i agree as well. i'm still sorry for the small shops that used to sell daily stuff but have been replaced by discounters, which are being pushed away by online retailers...all of that in very few hands, anonymous conglomerats that reside wherever they can avoid paying taxes.

nothing wrong with capitalism, if it's managed responsibly with a social component. what we have now is neo-liberalism, and i'm afraid it's conscious of the impending climate collapse. when that happens life as usual won't be possible anymore and people in general will freak out completely.

that isn't something politicians want to explain to their voter base, so they tell them life can go on as usual, but in the background get things ready for when it can't, i.e., authoritarian structures and measures.

Scott M. Stolz

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 07:10:23 -0500 last edited: Wed, 21 Feb 2024 07:13:08 -0500

Luckily there is a movement towards creating small businesses again, and there are people who are way more powerful and influential than me leading the charge. You especially see this in the coaching and consulting industry, the online education industry, and in the e-commerce industry, where many of us are making tools and providing training to help people start and grow their own online businesses.

So right now, we have two opposing forces: those who want to consolidate power and those who are trying to empower people.

And, as a student of history, having studied both capitalism and communism, I have a unique perspective.

Wanting to be compensated for the value that you provide is not inherently bad. And I would say it is natural for most people to expect compensation for their work. And having community run projects are also a good thing. Associations, cooperatives, communes, and other similar structures work well too.

The problem throughout history has always been this: "who has the power?"

When people are empowered and come together as a group, they flourish and prosper and grow. People can take the initiate themselves, and they can experiment with all sorts of ways to do things, sparking innovation and progress.

When people are part of a faceless giant organization or are subject to an all powerful government, it becomes more about who you know than what you can do. And you wind up with a lot of oppression because in very large organizations, even if you can vote or voice your concerns, your percentage of influence is so small, it is almost equivalent to not having a voice at all.

So I have hope for the future. The mainstream media focuses on doom and gloom, but there are a lot of people working to empower people. I think we can change things for the better.