The Costs of Shitting on Others
This is a bit of a ranty post that I've been meaning to write for quite some time... but I never really could figure out how to write it without it sounding like a cranky old man having a bit of a verandah yell at the passing world. So, I guess I just won't bother with trying to make it sound any different!
For the last few decades, or at least as long as I have been a alive and able to understand things... the public have been sold a horrific lie of deregulation and "free-market" solves all. Now, don't get me wrong, I am NOT an advocate of pure socialism or anything like that... although, I guess in some countries the sheer audacity of questioning the functioning of the free-market doctrine is enough to get you burnt at the stake of sacrificial straw men arguments.
I do make two subtle points though... firstly, what was sold to us as free markets are definitely NOT free-market... and that markets can NOT solve every problem.
So, to the first point. The inherent problem with "free-markets" is that they need to have efficient pricing... without that, then you are just making up numbers in the manner that brought down centrally planned economies. The problem with our current free markets is that they DON'T price in the problems that you can dump on someone else to deal with. And in a first world nation, the easiest "people" to dump all the costs on are: the populations of the developing countries and the future.... plus some of the local "poor" for good measure!
Basically, the way that companies and corporations are run these days... they are designed to extract maximum value for the shareholder, and accidentally, possibly providing an efficiently priced and delivered service/goods for the consumer. Except... in theory, it SHOULD have been the other way around in terms of priorities. So, you get to shit on your customers... because, where else will they go? And you get to externalise problems like pollution and waste to somewhere else... preferably over the hill and far away. Thus, minimising costs of production/delivery... and zeroing expenses to the account of someone else's problem.
Now... I think that most people would agree that this is really not a great state of affairs. But in a consumer society, we are all complicit (me too) and as long as we don't have to see the results... then we don't care. Except... things always come back to bite us... and now, I think we are starting to see the results of allowing the rich to capture more of the wealth whilst letting ourselves be shat upon. Of course, in return for being shat on, we did get a few little trinkets!
Companies don't reinvest anymore, they return money to shareholders and perform stock buybacks. None of these are innovation or building for the future... and there is little to no loyalty to customers or staff. Companies now exist for the shareholder.
A real case of the offshooting of responsibility (if you don't count the climate problem...), is the sheer irresponsibility of personal data collection and security. Companies (especially in Australia...) collect stupid amounts of personal data that they don't need (reminder, lie your arse off!) and the fail to secure it properly. The recent Optus and Medicare breaches are testament to that... over 10 million affected and have their lives turned around due to the potential of identity theft, and at best there is a "oops, bad bad hackers"... maybe a paltry slap on the wrist fine.
... and that gets me to that little lie that we all ate up from the United States. "Government is the problem"... well, now that we de-fanged the government, we see that we are now under the rule of unaccountable bullies that are much worse! Again... government ISN'T the solution to everything, but in a balance of power situation... if you wipe out one power pillar, you don't get something better.
Which brings me to the second point... companies have very little long-term outlook. Mostly, they are in for short term incentives. You can see this most in terms of fundamental research... very few of the companies really do that sort of thing, at best they are looking for incremental jumps. Even the big ones mostly do incremental research with specific known applications... and then they do the PR to make it look "innovative".
So... I'm just going to take a break now... I might revisit this in the future. I do sort of want to write about this topic, well... because, in some ways, I think we are sometimes trying to recreate the same broken model in our crypto-decentralised space. There are many interesting ideas out there... but the firm belief that financial incentives is what drives rational market actors... well, that has been shown to be not completely true. It is an enticing economic theoretical construct, but humans seem to be perversely averse to the categorisation as rational.
Oh yes... the original idea. What is the Cost of shitting on others in our current economic model? Pretty much zero if you ask me... and that isn't quite right somehow!
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Hey, I am just seeing your blog for the first time. What do I think about economies and socialism and what not...?
1 People as a whole should be encouraged to work. It helps the economy and it helps the individual.
2 The job of the government is not to help individuals fix their mistakes in life. No matter how much they try they'll just end up making things worse..Longer lines for food stamps time that could have been used more productively.
That's pretty much it.
Welcome, and thanks for the comment. I'm afraid that I passed no comment on socialism, only on the false implementation of "free-markets". But I would have something to say about the points that you point out.
Very few people would dispute this. However, the problem is that most "work" in the modern world is lacking in substance and meaning to both individual and society. Most of it can be politely classed as "passing time" until you retire, and making non-productive time sinks for "job creation". Essentially, the adult equivalent of "busywork" that you would ordinarily give to children to keep them out of trouble... actually, it serves exactly the same purpose.
My experience is likely different to yours (due to living in different countries and governments) and governments have much more to do than provide a welfare net (which is necessary to some extent). I would say that the purpose of governments in regulation/markets is to shield the citizens from the powerful. It is a balance of power situation... ideally, there should be no need for a government "stick", but we know that companies do not have the interests of society and individuals as their driving priority.
Lol...That's a hard pill to swallow for people who think they'll make anything of themselves though
You are very right though...I heard a lot about all the insider trading that happened before COVID and people lost their money as those who knew what was going on selling. If these companies had the chance to sell us air they'd happily do it. Its just that, I think the government these days are so distracted distracting people that they don't see all the bad these companies are doing until its too late.
Nice post again.
Sounds hardcore right winger, lol. Most of that is propaganda. Most people prefer some form of employment. So that narrative is trash propaganda.
If most people prefer to work and 1% still controls over 50% of resources doesn't mean systems don't work because people are lazy or want handouts. Tons of research has been conducted. The problem is a corporatist capitalist government. That uses a crooked spoil system with lobbyist which is legalized bribery.
You all need to get educated and stop using these unresearched severe right wing talking points.
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Basically, the way that companies and corporations are run these days... they are designed to extract maximum value for the shareholder, and accidentally, possibly providing an efficiently priced and delivered service/goods for the consumer- where is the lie in this ? I absolutely see none . See the Twitter take over for example , the new administration is vigorously preaching free speech, fantastic! but now charges $20 per month for tweeps with the verification badge, bollocks!
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Well, it is true... but often the cause of privatisation and all of that is sold as the consumer benefits, when it is really in fact a cornering of wealth and assets first. And too many of us fell for the lie.
Very valid rant!
I also think that condemning socialism is wrong. Maybe 'socialism' as it is practised is condemnable, but that is not socialism's fault ;)
I could even live with a tax system, if it was upgraded to a more flexible one (e.g. I can choose what my taxes are being spent for).
In the meantime I try to stay away from big corporations and governments by trying to buy used stuff whenever possible, or stuff from small & local shops. Or no stuff ;)
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I do wonder about the concept of a more flexible tax system as you describe... the problem that I see is that short term interests are still going to be front and centre, or at least the "whats in it for me" concept.
I guess no rebuild will work without starting at the roots. So education, ethics, quality of life. As long as this is non-existing, a lot of people will tend to make wrong decisions.
Or maybe there is just no umbrella (one for all) concept, and small regional de-centralism is the way. Personally I'd prefer to know the people I pay for my basic services...