tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post5882294218491408648..comments2024-03-27T09:14:27.496+00:00Comments on All That Is Solid ...: Klaus Schwab's The Fourth Industrial RevolutionPhilhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06298147857234479278noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-60311717028885202722020-12-03T16:54:57.159+00:002020-12-03T16:54:57.159+00:00«Some call it neo Feudalism because they think cap...«<i>Some call it neo Feudalism because they think capitalism is somehow wonderful and been corrupted but it is actually just plain old capitalism.</i>»<br /><br />A lot of it is actually neo feudalism, based on rentierism and personal relationships, where for example inheritance becomes a big determinant of one's life.<br /><br />«<i>Greater productivity always ends up with more resources being used up, not less.</i>»<br /><br />In case people want to check this the technical term is "Jevons paradox", but it only applies to some super-useful resources like energy, that effectively add to disposable income.Blissexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-50047002320172871242020-12-02T18:42:31.240+00:002020-12-02T18:42:31.240+00:00Who needs productivity increases when you can just...Who needs productivity increases when you can just print money to keep the hierarchies intact. Keep that printed money to just he elites and you don't have to worry about inflation. This was the lesson of 2008. Some call it neo Feudalism because they think capitalism is somehow wonderful and been corrupted but it is actually just plain old capitalism.<br /><br /><br />“making consumption cheaper and, at least in theory, less resource intensive and sustainable.”<br /><br />You really are going to have to explain this one! Greater productivity always ends up with more resources being used up, not less. In fact the beauty/horror of the technology is that it can produce more in one hour than previous technologies, which is why it’s cheaper.<br /><br />The only way to use up fewer resources is to literally offer less. Like when the confectionery companies reduce the weight of their chocolate bars but sell it at the same price. This isn’t the result of some technological breakthrough but is simply the result of a hustle, and we the consumers are the mark.<br /><br />So, if the technology of the future uses up fewer resources we are being hustled yet again.<br /><br />One reason for the lack of increase in productivity is because much of the computer technology does not provide more output but simply expands the ‘consumer’ experience. So supermarkets can offer checkouts without staff, but they also have checkouts with checkout staff and usually someone to help customers work out the non checkout bits. It’s a retail boom, it expands analytics for companies, but it doesn’t necessarily replace human labour on mass, at least not the recent developments.<br /><br />The virus has probably helped speed things along in regards of pushing out the old way of doing things and heralding in the new and this being capitalism, lots and lots of misery will entail as a result.<br /><br />Still at least this guy is not that nauseating tosser Paul Mason, we should be thankful for small mercies.<br />TheOnlySanePersonOnPlanetEarthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4486641877026778105.post-11686479704351835152020-12-02T11:24:43.999+00:002020-12-02T11:24:43.999+00:00«the introduction of new technologies has led to n...«the introduction of new technologies has led to new monopolies (hello Facebook, Amazon), but as yet no system-wide surge in productivity»<br /><br />My usual hypothesis here: that what has delivered so far 90% of productivity gains has been not new technologies, but new fuels, cheaper and at the same time more energy dense, first the switch from vegetables/wood to coal, and then from coal to oil.<br /><br />Note also that the business and property rentier elites don't *need* higher productivity, they already have lives of stunning, extraordinary, luxury, with 100m yachts, palaces with hundreds of rooms, etc. etc.<br /><br />The new technologies *might* increase a bit productivity and profits, but also something else matters: a common mistake is to assume that business and property owners care only about profits, but they also care as much or more about control and power, and human workers are hard to control. A lot of the newer technologies are about replacing uppity human resources with more docile alternatives.<br /><br />https://dilbert.com/strip/2018-07-03<br />https://dilbert.com/strip/1994-04-01<br />https://dilbert.com/strip/2008-01-26Blissexnoreply@blogger.com