A billionaire wrote this letter to Google a year ago. How likely is that Google's layoffs and actions since then are at least partly because of this? ( lemmy.world )

AllonzeeLV , 5 months ago

Our civilization rewards behavior like this, while literally punishing pro-social behavior like teaching.

Think about what that says about humanity. Our values are wrong and our entire species strives to elevate practicing sociopaths.

floofloof , 5 months ago

Our values are wrong and our entire species strives to elevate practicing sociopaths.

Not our entire species. Only the fans of capitalism. Unfortunately a few of them are quite powerful.

AllonzeeLV , 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago)

Most of us without meaningful capital are either forced to do it in practice with our labor, or be cast out to serve the owners in another way: as capitalist scarecrows. Our homeless exist on purpose, it wouldn’t be that expensive to provide minimal shelter. They exist to die slowly and publicly of exposure, and constant police capital defense force harassment, to terrify the capital batteries into continuing to show up to their jobs to produce value for their owners.

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/2a8cb309-1bd5-4b15-ae25-63b7c4187f99.jpeg

One way or another, those without capital are forced to serve the owners. Nothing “voluntary” about modern market capitalism, short of slitting one’s own throat.

You will serve the owner’s insatiable greed directly, or you will serve as an example and threat to the others.

BaldProphet , 5 months ago

Our homeless exist on purpose, it wouldn’t be that expensive to provide minimal shelter.

This is literally the truth. The state of California spent billions on serving the homeless over the past several years, and studies found that it would have been cheaper to simply pay their rent. At market rates.

AllonzeeLV , 5 months ago

“But I go to work so it isn’t faiiiiiiir if they don’t die in the gutter!”

-Someone struggling to make rent/mortgage, and having 95% of the value they produce extracted to run up the ego scores of our con-men owners.

They propagandize us through the media they own, and the curriculum they influence, to look down and to the side for who to blame, because our benevolent job creators would never work against us, would they? It’s in-fucking-sane.

🤮

BaldProphet , 5 months ago

It's ironic because the cost of labor would be cheaper if the economic conditions that cause homelessness didn't exist. I wouldn't have to demand a six-digit salary if I could maintain my standard of living on five digits.

LeroyJenkins , 5 months ago

our society just rewards capitalism. it’s a simple economics problem, really. same product being made with fewer people to pay means company stock value goes up. if we really want to change, we need to flip that model over or heavily regulate it. things like increased hiring, pay raises, and societal contribution should be things that dictate the worth of a company to society, but we don’t speculate on stocks based on non monetary things like that. we just care about the bottom line at the end of the day…