Are you a luddite?

[Clinamenic]

And I also think many of the major capitalist forces fail to account for people's wishes to not be roped into some sprawling system, wishes that I think should be respected more than they currently are in many cases.

 

[Clinamenic]

And I also think many of the major capitalist forces fail to account for people's wishes to not be roped into some sprawling system, wishes that I think should be respected more than they currently are in many cases.

And honestly this failure could even be framed as a longterm liability, by arousing the angst and distrust of would-be satisfied consumer bases.

 

[luka]

Elon Musk wants everyone driving his electric cars, perhaps because he genuinely believes that would be a good thing, but he's just had to recall hundreds of thousands of them due to potentially lethal faults.

he wants to cram the sky with shit satellites so they can film you taking a shit from space and youll never see a star again

 

[Clinamenic]

I think the whole wellness angle could potentially help realize the value of consumer satisfaction, satisfaction on a basis of ethics that was previously considered irrelevant to bottom-line decision-making. Hence triple bottom line capitalism, the sort which I endorse, if even idealistically.

 

[luka]

cunts in the fucking Gobi desert who live in a tent wont be able to see the fucking stars. and thats not 'technology' some monolithic and inevitable process. thats just some cunt who wants killing.

 

[version]

None of these technological developments have to happen. It's people choosing to push things in a given direction and the rest of us being disconnected from the process to such an extent that it seems to occur of its own accord.

 

[luka]

None of these technological developments have to happen. It's people choosing to push things in a given direction and the rest of us being disconnected from the process to such an extent that it seems to occur of its own accord.

this is what Stan is too thick to understand

 

[Clinamenic]

None of these technological developments have to happen. It's people choosing to push things in a given direction and the rest of us being disconnected from the process to such an extent that it seems to occur of its own accord.

I agree, and I wouldn't even say that our motivations here are absolutely predetermined. But to nudge against such colossal momentum is almost impossible, unless a serious amount of innovative energy is dedicated to exploring feasible alternatives, as in triple bottom line capitalism.

 

[Clinamenic]

But in short, yes, the major system-determining technical decisions are made beyond the range of direct popular input, and that is a problem I think can only be mitigated incrementally, and slowly at that.

 

[version]

I think the whole wellness angle could potentially help realize the value of consumer satisfaction, satisfaction on a basis of ethics that was previously considered irrelevant to bottom-line decision-making.

It's a con though. A balm. A way of tricking the consumer into feeling satisfied rather than actually satisfying them.

 

[Clinamenic]

and that is a problem I think can only be mitigated incrementally, and slowly at that.

As opposed to, say, "killing them all."

 

[luka]

Stan why are you so thick?

 

[Clinamenic]

It's a con though. A balm. A way of tricking the consumer into feeling satisfied rather than actually satisfying them.

I shouldn't argue that it's all in good faith, because it isn't, but I do think it opens up considerations that weren't even entertained, if even ostentatiously, before the question of mental health was a somewhat mainstream concern.

 

[Clinamenic]

Stan why are you so thick?

Harder! YES!

 

[Clinamenic]

I shouldn't argue that it's all in good faith, because it isn't, but I do think it opens up considerations that weren't even entertained, if even ostentatiously, before the question of mental health was a somewhat mainstream concern.

And honestly, I suspect this is a symptom of women climbing the corporate ranks, i.e. a more sensitive and introspective concern that would otherwise be taboo in the old boys' milieu,

 

[Clinamenic]

Which isn't to flatten all women executives into that feminine archetype of nurturing, which is just one-dimensional and a bit silly.

 

[Clinamenic]

And honestly, I suspect this is a symptom of women climbing the corporate ranks, i.e. a more sensitive and introspective concern that would otherwise be taboo in the old boys' milieu,

Really I think its a symptom of vulnerable demographics climbing the corporate ranks, but perhaps the feminine gaze in particular imparts this concern (again if even ostentatious) of wellbeing and mental health. Then again, a woman executive who has acclimated to the old boys' milieu would propagate those values arguably as much as the men would, so it doesn't necessarily reduce down to individual demographics.

 

[version]

I shouldn't argue that it's all in good faith, because it isn't, but I do think it opens up considerations that weren't even entertained, if even ostentatiously, before the question of mental health was a somewhat mainstream concern.

They're considerations which are exploited like everything else though. There's now an incentive to generate mental illness, or to at least offer temporary rather than permanent relief, in order to maintain the market that's been built up around it.

 

[Clinamenic]

I like this routine we've gotten into a couple times where version and I play the anti-capitalist and pro-capitalist roles, while luka stands in the bleachers hollering insults at me.

 

[Clinamenic]

They're considerations which are exploited like everything else though. There's now an incentive to generate mental illness, or to at least offer temporary rather than permanent relief, in order to maintain the market that's been built up around it.

Totally, and it occasions markets for mental health products and services which may manage to find ways to drum up their own business (like dentists giving away candy to children after appointments).