
Workers of the world unite on distributed digital platforms - jonbaer
https://aeon.co/essays/workers-of-the-world-unite-on-distributed-digital-platforms
======
chobeat
I advocate for platform cooperativism and workers self-organization and this
article is still terrible. Every single technical reference is wrong and the
level of confidence in the blockchain is way beyond what is reasonable at this
time.

At some point I was expecting some comment on Comrade Elon Musk, the Lord and
Saviour of the proletariat.

------
mbay
"And contracting costs are likely to fall markedly thanks to the advent of
blockchain protocols"

I really don't see any evidence of this being true in general...

------
amb23
Really wish this article wasnt full of crypto psychobabble because the
cooperative business structure has real teeth, both as an alternative
fundraising/equity structure for tech companies and for regular, everyday
businesses across the US. Establishing clear ownership structures among
workers in a way that allows them to have a voice in company operations and
share in the profits is the most democratic mode of capitalism and clearly
fairer than the oligarchic form of capitalism we’re living in now. I wish more
startups considered this path.

------
noobermin
I am sympathetic somewhat I suppose, but they seriously downplay the issues
with blockchains, including the Ethereum "hack" (which IMO was the system
working as designed although not intended). The various cryptocoins are not
decentralized, in fact, we have had a couple of articles posted here lately
about 51% attacks on a number of coins, so how are they the decentralized
future as the article puts it?

------
lifeisstillgood
Are we seeing the outline of a new class struggle? Rentiers owning platforms
that allow the gig economy to function being organised against on whatsapp?

------
csytan
Co-operatives have been around for a long time outside of the software world.
The low level problems are being worked on right now with DAOs, but it will
take a while longer.

If you take the D out of DAO, then the high level problems: fairness and
trust, can already be worked upon.

Are there any organizations that have tied software decision making to the
existing legal system?

