• J Lou@mastodon.social
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    8 months ago

    Why is the profit motive terrible in your view? What should we replace the profit motive with?

    What is the benefit to pro-market anti-capitalists to challenging that particular preconceived notion? It creates an unnecessary roadblock when pro-market anti-capitalists can just describe themselves as radically democratic liberals, who want to extend democracy into the workplace @memes

    • Cowbee [he/him]
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      8 months ago

      Incentivizing profit instead of outcome results in power imbalances and enshittification. What was once disruption becomes scientifically engineered to extract as much money from the users as possible.

      • J Lou@mastodon.social
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        8 months ago

        The only way incentives based on outcome work is when people produce directly for their own use. For cases where people produce for others, the profit motive helps coordinate people to produce. Power imbalances can be avoided by collectivizing means of production across multiple coops.

        Enshittification requires IP monopolies. Economic democracy shouldn’t have IP monopolies. Instead, it should secure software freedom. Digital public goods should be funded through quadratic funding @memes

        • Cowbee [he/him]
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          8 months ago

          Citation needed. Profit doesn’t incentivize working for others, it incentivizes extraction from others. There’s still a power imbalance between customer and provider in a market.

          Enshittification happens regardless of IP, it’s a result of competition. Over time, people find new ways to extract more from their customers.

          • J Lou@mastodon.social
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            8 months ago

            Whether there is a power imbalance between customer and provider is dependent on how competitive the market is. When providers have market power, consumers can form associations to collectively bargain down providers’ prices.

            Is there an enshittification example without IP?
            Enshittification usually happens with monopolistic firms not competitive markets.

            What would you replace markets with specifically?

            Quadratic funding lets public goods be free. I can’t see how it’s extractive @memes