A friend recently sent me this link to a Times Radio interview with Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis in which he discusses his contention that traditional capitalism, and social democracy, are dead.
It is being replaced by what he describes as 'techno-feudalism'. The rise of the online giants Amazon and Facebook see a massive rise in the incomes that economists describe as 'rent' ("In neoclassical economics, economic rent is any payment to the owner of a factor of production in excess of the cost needed to bring that factor into production." Wikipedia), an accumulation of wealth that is not affected by the output of goods and services in a traditional sense, an income that rises (and falls) with no significant impact on operating costs. The net result is the accumulation of increasing levels of wealth in the hands of fewer and fewer people, and the rise of a new economic elite which he thinks of in much the same way as we might imagine the feudal lords of the middle ages and the era of feudalism.
We seem to be seeing increasing evidence of the use of this wealth to influence political outcomes that benefit that elite (it seems difficult to believe that these donations are made for purely altruistic reasons) while ignoring the remainder of society. Surely if people in general are well cared for, then even the wealthy benefit? The OECD refutation of the trickle down effect, and their view that higher levels of economic inequality reduce potential economic growth, support that contention.
I am not a political analyst, but it does seem to me that in some parts of the world (including in Aotearoa New Zealand) we are seeing the pundits of neo-liberalism, those who believe that our wealth and wellbeing are the result of individual effort only, gaining political power. Some of that support comes from those who will only ever work for someone else, who will only ever work for a living. That feels a little like the metaphorical turkeys voting for an early Christmas.
What are the rest of us to do? Apparently we don't work hard enough; the catch cry is 'if you only worked harder, you too could be a millionaire'. Try telling that to the nurse who pulls 60-80 hour work weeks, or the teacher who regularly does 70 hours in a week, with no weekends.
How do we cope? What can we do in the face of such seemingly unassailable economic power?
Perhaps our ultimate act of rebellion is to indulge our creativity, to find our creative voices, in whatever field we need in order to feel more fully human. I wonder if in doing so we gain sufficient separation from the techno-elite to be able to shrug them off, to exist in a world not dominated by Amazon or Facebook, or our iPhone or laptop (yep, I see the sublime contradiction in me typing this on a laptop, and posting it on a blog connected with a 'tech giant'). The question is, can we use the technology in a way that liberates rather than enslaves? Can we crawl out from beneath the power, the command, of our techno-feudalistic overlords?
What a fascinating thing to try and think through. Good luck!!
Kia ora Robin, thanks for sharing your thinking and taking the time to digest Varoufakis’s thinking. It was a fascinating watch and really makes us think about important issues, such as inequality and capitalism in 2023, and as you point out, who are the major beneficiaries of capitalism. Can creativity challenge the current situation we find ourselves in? The optimist in me suggests there is hope … 🤞
ReplyDeleteGary R
Kia ora Robin, thanks for sharing your thinking and taking the time to digest Varoufakis’s thinking. It was a fascinating watch and really makes us think about important issues, such as inequality and capitalism in 2023, and as you point out, who are the major beneficiaries of capitalism. Can creativity challenge the current situation we find ourselves in? The optimist in me suggests there is hope … 🤞
ReplyDeleteGary R
When you start to see the numbers you realise just how much these 'Techno-Feudal Barons' drain out of economies without contributing a single bit of productivity or growth. Basically they (Amazon, Facebook, Google, and probably Twitter/X, EBay, etc too) are a giant vacuum cleaner 'hoovering up' all the cash out of circulation. Then the scarier bit is how the owners of these can be conspiracy theory nutters (like Misk) or otherwise have extreme agendas and use this hoarded wealth and/or dominant economic or commercial position to influence or distort governments, international events and public good.
ReplyDeleteElon Musk is a case in point, while it's still unclear what, if anything, he did to disrupt Ukrainian use of his public internet network (after making it available) over the last 18 months he did have a stated "intent" to interfere in their military operations because he believed he knew better than anyone else on the planet, and he was better placed than them to judge the risk of Putin escalating the conflict to nuclear (if action was taken by Ukraine to defend itself)! i.e. He considered himself better informed than experienced knowledgeable experts and diplomats who understand the situation and base their decisions on facts NOT the conspiracy theories and Russian disinformation that Musk does. This is just one extreme example of the threat to government and state independence by these tech-megacorps and their owners....