The economy is an interesting animal, because all it really does is reflect our behaviors, which includes the market manipulation and the legislation we create or support. However, the laws of supply and demand are in place and this means that supply is going to reflect demand, even if we are influenced to demand something that isn't good for us. Essentially, this is what advertising does, as even something as ubiquitous as running shoes, are bad for our feet for the most part.
It is worth about 400 billion dollars a year globally.
Just because we demand something, doesn't mean it is good for us, and this affects so much of our lives now, because there are so many choices. Once upon a time, companies had to make products that we wanted because we needed them, not because they were entertaining. Because of this, the companies had to produce something not only usable, but something real. This essentially put a cap on how much money could be made, because it had to be produced, transported, and there was a market saturation point, and speed of lifetime turnover. There were constraints on both the supply and the demand side.
However, we have now moved into a period of the economy that is disconnected from the physical constraints, but is still able to generate massive amounts of wealth. The digital economy and product range is far more effective at generating wealth, because it doesn't have to actually produce or ship anything. And, it doesn't even have to be something we need or is useful for us to spend copious amounts on it. But it is compelling.
Or is that addictive.
The products now are the equivalent of the drinks packed with sugar and caffeine, or cigarettes with nicotine, except it is for our minds. Anything to grab our attention, keep us clicking, scrolling and tapping, immersed in a tailored and endless stream of content that does nothing to improve the experience of our lives, and a lot to diminish the aspects we need to have a high quality of life, like relationships, communities and purpose itself.
There is no cabal or illuminati creating these conditions, it is just us doing what we do out of our human tendencies. Habits that are hackable, leverageable, and are easily influenced to illicit predictable behaviors. We want convenience, we want easy, we want comfortable, we want to be served - and the products are waiting on us hand and foot, without us having to lift more than finger, nor our eyes from the screen in front.
The entire economy is now largely driven by the non-practical, the digital world that provides little more than entertainment for the masses by drawing in eyes to spend time, but do nothing. And the more time we spend, the more data we provide, and the more tailored and addictive it becomes.
The more efficient.
Henry Ford created the modern production line, but economics in business is about optimization, and this happens through creating efficiencies. An employee at Google generates 10x more wealth than an employee at Ford, but where is the real value? You can justify some of it by having the information at fingertips and the like, but what we consume on the internet for the vast majority of us isn't going to help us, or anyone else create anything useful, anything valuable to the world of humans, yet it will generate more wealth.
It is very, very efficient.
The economy is what we demand, and we demand to play stupid games rather than do something useful with our lives. And as a result of what we demand, we generate the continued change in supply, where most of us work in jobs that don't produce much good for humanity, but serve to maintain this progression into isolation. We are part of the mechanism that will continually optimize the production of what we demand, until there is not only no value for us in what we consume, but also no room for us to even produce it.
We got served all right.
Who is they? They is we. But, some people are more they than others, as they have more influence over others, more ways to sway the demand, and optimize the supply, to become increasingly efficient at extracting wealth from the masses, by finding new ways to offer less, for more.
If we want off this ride.
We need to stop playing this game.
Or we are going to keep winning stupid prizes.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
There was a time when hearing music required hiring a musician. It was easier to be a successful musician back then, at least successful enough to stay fed and warm.
Then technology let us hear music from anywhere, and 99% of musicians lost their meal ticket, as people took to buying recordings of the most successful/famous/connected/foresighted 1% of musicians.
Now technology's letting us torrent their music for free, and they need to tour, to make money. So we're back to paying them to play to us in person.
Onlyfans is more of the same, in a way. 99% of women getting less attention as technology let's the other 1% capture the market.
I've been following a guy on Twitter, bry.ai who's hoping to mass produce a sex toy which incorporates customisable AI. So it doesn't (as yet) react physically, to what's done to it, it reacts verbally, and in the style/manner/voice/temperament the user has selected.
He's planning to collaborate with onlyfans girls, letting them charge a subscription to users of his product, to also use their voice and mannerisms.
It's like humanity saw extinction on the horizon, and responded by accelerating.
That, and it was possible to be successful locally, now every band is competing globally, and have to outperform the revenue of the pokies.
And women who were complaining about unreal body expectations from models, now have to compete with 100% fake Gen-AI depictions of women.
I am ODing anyway - may as well go out with a bang.
As discouraging as it is to see the sway toward the superficial and convenient with the economy and lifestyle, it presents opportunity for those willing to take it.
I can’t cure stupid and definitely am not equipped to bear the weight of responsibility for those making foolish and poor decisions. I just work on not letting it get me down, not falling into the same trap, and not lying to myself when some of my economic behaviour is that which I am slighting here.
As a generation, we were told that we are experts in nothing, nobody cares about our issues, and to shut up and work harder. As harsh and untrue as that can be, it has set us up well if we were able to learn the right lessons and survive.
Now, being prepared to work hard, do without, not be entitled to something, and doing the right thing is more rare! Saying the things that you are going to do and doing them now has premium value as the supply of that is way down. Doing something that is hard is more rare and we can now become experts because we see it through.
Tactics and strategy are constantly evolving but many of the principals are the same. Let’s just build with people of similar intellect and sensibility rather than take the retraction and convenient isolate route.
I have heard an increasing number of stories of companies not hiring gen-Z workers because of their inability to deliver on what is essentially the bare minimum. When "expected" to do their job, they see it as bullying.
I get this, but I think that my own intelligence is circling the drain!
That's actually a really great analogy because I know when I eat something like chocolate, it tastes great at the time but there is often regret after the fact over eating it. The same is true when people buy many of the things they buy these days that they don't really need.
We are not only buying crap we don't need, but in doing so supporting a system that is deigned to actively hurt us.
One way we get hurt is by designed obsolescence, especially for durable goods. We would buy one durable sevice which would last for a long time, and that was it.
In the case of something like an automobile, it was basic enough that we could be our own mechanics. Whatever parts we had to replace were affordable even for a high school student who worked a part-time job. It was this way as recently as the 1980s.
Once the automobiles began to be collections of computerized systems, they became too expensive for Do-It-Yourself repair and maintenance. Even before the arrival of today's generation of EVs, automobiles as durable goods were transformed into autos as appliances. It was cheaper to replace the auto than to maintain it. That set off a cascade of other problems such as disposal, recycling, and financialization.
This isn't even including the regulatory burdens imposed on us by governments and the bureaucratic agencies responsible for turning our lives into a Kafkaesque existence.
Yep, this is a good example of the change. Not only this, because everything is disposable and doesn't get repaired, we also don't learn the skills of repair. And then, we apply the same disposable logic to the relationships in our lives.
So, funny enough I accidentally joined a group for the illuminati. Much more benign than people think. They are OBSESSED with math. I'll have to write that story for the blog one day. Maybe I'll find some time now that I've quit my job. (But I'll also be doing a couple months of research at a really renowned college in the summer so we'll see. Depends on how challenging that ends up being.)
I am assuming that if there was an illuminati as nefarious as made out to be - they wouldn't have a group to join without some kind of masked sex initiation.
How'd you join? :D
You quit?
I'm just lurking. Lol it's basically a book club man. Like I said, mostly math, "monads", obsession with personality types, and small flashes of revolution-esque thoughts talking about the "old world order." By far and large the most entertaining part are the occasional people dropping in to ask where they can more or less sell their souls for fame/riches. (Neither of which is offered lol.)
One of the problems is that those that are at the top of the game are doing their best to prevent other games from springing up, or sabotaging them. Not only are they rigging the current game, but they are also making sure it is the only game available.
Captured audience means that they will eat whatever is served.
I just don't think things will be easy to change. Even the politicians look at the market for the health of the market. We all know that the stock market isn't really a good representation of how our lives are. I just think that it will be tough and covid taught us how bad supply chains could get when things get disrupted. The economy runs with a ton of parts and one thing could easily break.
GDP is a terrible indicator of societal health, but they seem to keep using it as if that money is being used to make lives better.
GDP is a lagging indicator, so it can't be used to prepare. Not only that, included in the calculation of GDP is government spending (because it is the largest "customer" in "the economy).
Recent economic growth is due to the fact that most hiring and buying took place in the government sector. Private sector-- where most people live and work-- has been suffering for a while.
It is a lagging indicator yes, but the government focus is to increase corporate wealth, using GDP as an indicator of how well they are doing it :D
Yea. I agree that it's a terrible indicator but the politicians have been out of touch for a while.
I think demand has a psychological side. For instance, food prices have been increasing constantly in restaurants here, but seems some people still willing to pay that prices. Why? It might be an obstination or keeping up the life quality.
If there is still a demand, why decrease the prices? Keep lifting them until demand drops. The thing is, that demand can fall off a cliff if the consumer falls too far into debt.
This demand is not normal. I think they become happy when paid that much money.
I think you are right in some way. A lot of people seem to spend "because they can" with the same mentality as those who can afford to do it at the Ferrari level.
Hmm
Using sugar as an example reminds me of how much I take soda. I take it a lot even though I know it isn’t good for the health and I keep demanding for more…
Soda is bad for you - even the diet crap :)
When see my students on their phone laughing incessantly, I can’t help but wonder how these contents online manage to keep people lazy and unproductive. The truth is, they are not even aware of this social vice.
The effective way to keep a man in confinement is to not let him know he is in one.
There is so much information pointing to the harm it all causes, yet the people who need the lesson, aren't learning it.
I have read about this and there is a book titled The Survivor's Economy. It is a never ending topic. How important is it to amass large amounts of money when it does not help you buy life?
No, this isn't about the survivor's economy, it is just the way business works. People forget that businesses aren't people, especially at the large corporate level. They have a sole purpose to generate wealth.
Well at least it makes for a fun experience when using social media. I'd much rather have a customized online experience than a one-size-fits-all approach to social media.
I hope you're not talking about SPS!