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The internet has gotten 3x shittier in the last 12 months.
There’s a reason for it, people don’t push back enough. We all need to push back more than we have been.
They’re noticing the pushback so far, but they’re thinking they can break through it and come out victorious on the other side.
Do you really want to pay a monthly fee to be forced to watch commercials?
The whole point of commercials was that you didn’t have to pay otherwise to watch the show.
I’ve cancelled everything in my life that requires a monthly payment (asides vehicle and rent).
It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s that I’m fucking sick of it.
It’s not that I can’t afford it, it’s that I’m fucking sick of it.
And that’s how they win, it’s what they count on. It’s a death by a thousand cuts for us and more profits for them.
Don’t give up now, you won’t just fail yourself, you’ll fail everyone, if you do.
Partly, this is because “the free market will solve it” is just a neoliberal lie. Sometimes, there’s simply no other choice as corporations race each other to the bottom.
So this streaming service might have gotten shitty, espensive or unethical, but you can move to another right? Oh no, looks like they’re shitty and unethical too, just slightly differently.
Then in six months time, they’ve each absorbed one another’s shitty, greedy practises anyway, ensuring consumers are fully exploited with nowhere else to go.
But the true power of neoliberalism lies in its giant book of premade excuses, so neoliberals (or neoliberals in disguise) will of course read from the next page:
“Oh that’s just because there isn’t enough competition. We just need to deregulate heavily and allow companies to do whatever the streaming equivalent of dumping toxic by-products in the river is!”
But of course, that won’t ever come true either. The companies that already exist will grow more profitable polluting the river and new entries into the market will be either stamped out, bought and stripped for parts or enshittified by the same greed over time.
Following the flowchart taught at exclusive, expensive schools the world over, the next excuse is to blame the consumers.
“Oh if people really cared, they’d simply stop buying things entirely. But they don’t, because these companies continue to bring in record profits. So secretly, consumers actually love their chocolate being picked by child slaves”.
While they do fight back with boycotts, public outcry and (in this case) things like password sharing and piracy, it’s nothing companies can’t crush if it looks like it might actually dent their profits.
At some point, consumers need to pick their misery and the choices are bleak but obvious.
They can accept the minor misery of advertising, even as they pay a subscription, just like the corporation knew they would.
They can escalate their own misery further by boycotting the entire platform or industry.
But the moral high ground doesn’t make spending your few hours of personal time each day staring at the wall suddenly as entertaining as whatever content you’re no longer watching.
Also, the company doesn’t care. That was part of their calculations and they’re still making even more money.
Or finally, they could maximise their misery and actually do something, like busting out the guillotines or becoming a politician that opposes neoliberalism yet is somehow allowed power.
So anyway, people are tired. The fight never ends and some people have fought it for 50 years already. Encourage them to take the third option by all means, but don’t shame them for taking the first option.
They might already be miserable enough.
[very verbose initial response]
Honestly don’t mean this as an insult, but you might want to consider being more concise, so that your point comes across better.
So anyway, people are tired. The fight never ends and some people have fought it for 50 years already. Encourage them to take the third option by all means, but don’t shame them for taking the first option.
I’m not purposely trying to shame people, but I’ll definitely get on their cases if they don’t push back and let this crap continue.
It’s called consumer advocacy, and it shouldn’t be shamed away and not done. Those who are causing the problems in society would benefit the most if this happened.
If we all work together, it’s been proven that it does turn things around.
They might already be miserable enough.
It’s not my fault they’re that way, it’s the fault of the people making society horrible so they can selfishly make more money for themselves, which must be fought against.
The ones making Society horrible definitely win when no one pushes back.
Honestly don’t mean this as an insult, but you might want to consider being more concise, so that your point comes across better.
I’m cool with ranting. I enjoy the act of writing, blogs are long dead and it’s important to articulate why so many things in the world are fucking shit.
If we all work together, it’s been proven that it does turn things around
When?
The ones making Society horrible definitely win when no one pushes back.
They also win when people do push back, because thats how the game has been rigged. The extent of the public’s power is making them win slightly less.
The only way to stop companies doing unethical things is strict regulations, ruthlessly enforced. The only times “consumer advocacy” ever works is when the government steps in, which is why the ultra wealthy go to so much effort to ensure they never do.
One good person in politics, with power, is worth a million people boycotting.
If we all work together, it’s been proven that it does turn things around
When?
Unions.
They also win when people do push back, because thats how the game has been rigged.
Strawman.
The only way to stop companies doing unethical things is strict regulations, ruthlessly enforced.
Its the most important way, but not the only way.
One good person in politics, with power, is worth a million people boycotting.
Definately agree with this. But its not a zero sum gain, an either/or. Both can happen, and increase the odds of success.
Eternal September is real. It’s sad
Eternal September is real.
Apparently this is how cable started, and then they did the same thing lol
That was in back before the Internet though.
The internet was invented in the 60s
I know, I was there. But I’m talking about when it was used by the larger general public, which was in the 90’s. Before that, it was people dialing up on modems to BBS’.
With Netflix already having ads we are now 75% of the way to “cutting the cord” going back to reinventing cable again.
“Again”?
I’ve still been out here since Napster. Welcome back aboard, we kept the torrents warm for you.
What are the cool kids using these days?
I was using torrents for years before I started messing with Usenet. Now I’ve got it set up it’s easy to grab pretty much anything and at higher quality than before.
Some of us never stopped sailing the high seas matey. Yarrrrr!
Looks like it’s time to cancel prime
this was the last straw? it wasn’t workers peeing in bottles, or businesses being displaced to build warehouses, or tax avoidance, or sweat shop wages for international workers?
to the trolls below, I’m a full time activist, you’re just keyboard warriors
Have fun purchasing ethical power, food, textiles and electronics unless you’re already rich working at a non fortune-500 company lol.
Fortune 500 employees are some of the worst paid and most exploited. See Amazon, Walmart, etc. Even at the white collar level they get paid shit. The old “work for a Fortune 100” bit hasn’t been relevant since the dot-com boom.
Top level Devs at Amazon get paid 1m a year, plus stock options
Top level devs at Amazon would get paid that anywhere. They aren’t competing for a spot at Amazon, Amazon is competing for them.
That kind of undermines your original comment…?
How? People used to dream of working for a Fortune 100 company because landing one of those coveted jobs was a way to secure a well paying job with a nice pension. Those days are gone. Now you either make yourself priceless so that everyone is competing for your skills, or you work for a small firm that values your existence and sees you as part of the team. In a large company, with very few exceptions, you are just a disposable cog in the machine.
For context, I know a lot of developers that worked for Amazon. They all left. The mythological $1M devs are paid that to make sure the competition doesn’t have them. They aren’t employees, they are IP.
I am not paying to watch commercials. Fuck that.
I think most of us pay for the shipping, the video is just a bonus. That said, their exclusives aren’t that great and they just end up in medusa.
I think most of us pay for the shipping, the video is just a bonus.
You’re not wrong, but the point though is to not reward them for bad behavior.
It’s a death by “1,000 cuts” if you do.
