
Can we please do useful things with software? - itamarst
https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/08/07/do-something-useful/
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whipoodle
I lose my patience with screeds like this, that choose not to examine the
systemic reasons why this happens, instead preferring to yell at the dumb
jerks who took jobs programming things the author doesn't like.

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justforFranz
First of all - you poor thing. But for reals, yes, capital seeks returns. And
the people who need the most help have the least capital to make themselves
interesting to capital.

And that's why we need infrastructure spending from the government. But if
anything, we have a government (in the USA) that's more interested in
demolishing infrastructure that helps actual people, and instead wants to
offer tax cuts to very, very rich people.

Douglas Rushkoff is right. All these companies are going after the data-play
when in fact, most people simply have no more money to spend.

And one of the reasons why we got both Trump & Sanders during the primaries is
because labor has no pricing power. Most people are afraid to ask for a raise,
and apparently nobody with any power seems to give a damn.

We have an increasingly supply-side economy. Normal people will reliably spend
any extra dollar they get. But I bet you could throw money at super-rich
companies like Apple all day long and it wouldn't increase demand for anything
(perhaps except the stock price - if they had an aggressive dividend policy, I
guess).

And now they want "tax reform" which I suppose will lower corporate tax rates.
That's not going to help generate demand.

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pards
I've been thinking a lot about this topic recently. I've worked in finance my
whole career (20 years) and am consistently amazed by the waste, inefficiency
and wealth.

Banks make money in spite of themselves.

The UK challenger banks like Monzo, Atom and Starling have taken this on as
their mission - to provide a great banking experience _for people_.

My personal challenge is that I'm the sole income provider for my wife and two
kids so salary/rate has always won, but maybe there's an employer out there
that can both pay well and make the world a better place.

Or maybe a few of us should start one.

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justforFranz
Amen and amen.

