‘Capitalism is dead. Now we have something much worse’: Yanis Varoufakis on extremism, Starmer, and the tyranny of big tech::In his new book, the maverick Greek economist says we are witnessing an epochal shift. At his island home, he argues it’s now the ‘fiefdoms’ of tech firms that shape us
He’s not wrong. We’re only a few years away from the big five in the US owning all of our land in one way or another. It’s like a corporate showdown at this point. The government did nothing to stop this conglomeration of assets and wealth.
He’s referring not to a land grab but cloud capital charging rent to the capitalist class. Essentially creating a class as far above the capitalist as the capitalist is above the worker.
Listened to a good interview with him on a podcast last night after trying to read this shit article.
While it is far more advanced and ubiquitous, I don’t see how paying to social media companies is fundamentally distinct from having to pay for ads in newspapers and TV that they did in “good old capitalism”. Maybe I should look up how he puts it, but it still sounds like capitalism.
I think it’s a matter of degree.
And his prime example, no pun intended, is Amazon not social media. In his view, Bezos has more in common with a feudal lord than a capitalist. And the power difference between Jeff and the capitalist is as large as the difference between the capitalist and the worker.
So, essentially, we’re watching feudalism come back into power. Which itself still had commerce, markets on the King’s land for example. Which, to me, does sound a lot like Amazon.
