Doctrow argues that nascent tech unionization (which we’re closer to having now than ever before) combined with bipartisan fear (and consequent regulation) either directly or via agencies like the FTC and FCC can help to curb Big Tech’s power, and the enshittification that it has wrought.
That’s cool and all, and maybe it will eliminate some of the worst bullshit, but it’s not going to stop enshitification. Certainly not with big tech because it’s driven by the profit motive in satisfying initial investors, going public, and then engaging in the quest to make the line always go up forever.
The only thing that’s going to stop enshitification is to stop depending on that model for the platforms we want.
I’m surprised that there hasn’t been more of a push for B Corp style corporate governance in tech considering how many tech leaders claim to be working for the greater good. There are plenty of options for doing well and doing good at the same time.
The only thing that’s going to stop enshitification is to stop depending on that model for the platforms we want.
Did I misunderstand your comment because “stop depending on that model for the platforms we want” reads like exactly what Mr Doctorow is proposing?
Somewhat, my comment got truncated by real life interruption, sorry. But I think we need things that are more community driven than they are profit driven. Things like the Fediverse where the goal isn’t doing all these things to make bank but doing all these things because it’s something people want and how people want to engage with each other.
Doctorow wants regulations to help stave off “loss leading” style behavior and then hopes unions will also somehow help. I’m thinking ultimately that any platform run as a capitalist enterprise is eventually going to enshitify.
We need to get rid of the notion that corporations first have a responsibility to the shareholders. The shareholders should be last, after the employees, the customers, and the safety of the general public.
But that’s not how capitalism works. The employees, customers and general public don’t invest any money in companies. Without money, no business.
The employees invest their time and time is money. The customers invest their money and their trust. The general public invests their tax dollars to create the infrastructure needed for the company to even exist in the first place.
And don’t tell me the employees get compensated for their time, because they create more value than they receive, hence, profits.
The shareholders, literally only invest money. They give the least and get the most.
The employees invest their time and time is money. The customers invest their money and their trust. The general public invests their tax dollars to create the infrastructure needed for the company to even exist in the first place.
Yes but it is nothing comparable to millions or billions of € invested by shareholder. Sure customer invest their trust and money but they get benefit immediately, aka the product. General public invest their tax for the infrastructure however companies get taxed too for the infrastructure that benefits general public, that’s a null equation. Investor are a necessary part of the economy and shall be treated as such, nothing prevent government from taxing more benefits from investment tho.
I didn’t say they weren’t important or necessary. I said they were the least important, and I stand by that. Name one single company that doesn’t have employees or customers, or exists outside of a government. I can name several companies without outside investors.
I know this is naive, but sometimes I wish we’d be bolder in brainstorming alternative ways the economy could work.
Imagine, for example, the IRS would send a yearly, mandatory “happiness questionnaire” to all employees of a company (compare the “world happiness report”). This questionnaire then would have a major influence on how much taxes the company has to pay, so much that it’s cheaper to make employees happy and content than to squeeze them for every ounce of labor they can give.
Or an official switch to 6 hour days, except to get those 2 hours less, you have to use them for growing your own food. Shorter workdays, more time with family, more self-reliance. And a strong motivation for cities to provide more green spaces and community gardens.
Very naive ideas with lots of problems, yes, but I wish we wouldn’t have the concept of revenue generation so thoroughly encrusted in our heads as the guiding principle of all we do and dream of.
How about making bootstrapping businesses easier and providing preferable tax strategies floor small businesses? That would show down venture capital backed companies demanding a public offering and short term profit motives over sustainable businesses.
Or opening up platforms to drive increased competition?
Or providing sponsorship for open standards so users get more choice in the market instead of relying on entrenched large companies?
