think-about-it

  • queermunist she/her
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    1 year ago

    Economics school dorks: theft is a signal that the price is too high, but only too high relative to the potential cost. The fact that stealing is illegal is what makes it a valuable price signal in the first place. Here look at this series of charts that show my point-

    Business school dorks: just charge a high price and make the police more brutal to compensate. Now, watch this drive~

  • SootySootySoot [any]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    Unironically, really. Piracy is the sole reason the games industry is even minorly reasonable and so widely accessible. Studies suggest it causatively increases sales. If it wasn’t for piracy, I’m convinced I would’ve been completely priced out the market and just never got into games on any meaningful level.

    Why should that philosophy not be extended to all things?

    • Philosoraptor [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, the piracy case really drives this home. Piracy of media (especially movies, music, and TV shows) absolutely plummeted during the golden age of streaming: it turns out that most people are willing to pay a little bit to access media on demand as long as that access is consistent, convenient, and relatively cheap. As soon as streaming started hard down the road to enshittification by jacking up prices and fragmenting into a million different services, piracy started to heat back up again. You’d think media companies would learn a lesson here, but apparently not.

  • emizeko [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    someone stole your personal property? that’s bad

    someone stole your private property you were using to extract rents and surplus value? oh no, you might have to sell your labor

  • 420blazeit69 [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    1 year ago

    The best leftist take on stealing is that it is wrong, but (especially under capitalism) there are many excusable instances of it (that is, stealing from the right person for the right reason).

    Every society I’m aware of, including all AES states, has some laws about property and some prohibition on stealing. Same for every religion. “Legalize theft” is a silly and futile battle to pick. Encouraging people to reassess when stealing is OK – that is, situations where the degree of need outweighs property interests – makes much more sense.