Pluralistic: There Were Always Enshittifiers (04 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Society
Commentary: Remote Work Empowers Rural Workforce and Strengthens Federal Government | The Daily Yonder
On January 20th, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an order directing federal agencies to terminate remote work arrangements and mandate employees
The Musk-Trump War on Federal Employees Doesn’t Add Up
DOGE operatives claim that mass layoffs are necessary to prevent the U.S. government from going bankrupt. Let’s do the math.
Air Force’s Newest Taildragger Honors Skyraider Heritage
The Skyraider II is the official designation of the new light attack platform for U.S. Special Forces.
Cultivating Change Amidst Collapse (SSIR)
To meet the magnitude of this moment we must work collaboratively in ways that promote decentralization over top-down hierarchies, relationships over transactions, and emergence over control.
Beyond GDP
Metrics matter for policy and policy matters for well-being. In this report, the co-chairs of the OECD-hosted High Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Jean-Paul Fitoussi and Martine Durand, show how over-reliance on GDP as the ...
Small is beautiful – and other thoughts about university governance — Crooked Timber
A Right-Libertarian Myth Meets Reality
A report submitted to the EU in September, as interpreted by Michael Roberts, casts considerable doubt on the standard right-libertarian party line regarding investment. The standard right-libertarian talking point is that labor is dependent on investment, that investment — in the form either of credit or equity — comes from previous capital accumulation, and that...
Pluralistic: Ideas Lying Around (03 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
The War on the Imagination
There were numerous news items last week about surveillance and algorithmic decision-making in the workplace. These kinds of stories aren’t new, of course. But as Elon Musk has infiltrated the White House, instructing his minions to eliminate as much of the federal workforce as possible; and as the Trump
18F
Lindsay Young: I am the Executive Director of 18F and 18F's longest running employee- I have been at 18F for 10 years. You may not have heard of us, but last night proved that we are powerful. The way the administration ran to get rid of us under the cover of night and shut us down without warning proves that they were scared. They are too afraid to even speak to us. [...] We were living ...
Citizen Assemblies as the Solution to Persistent Lag in Youth Voting
Just over a year ago, I finally wrote down my theory about why youth voting participation remains persistently low. https://docs.google.com/document/d/11MsplckerAHO_l80SUd30yE1Je-IlzfBc8Cf4FJAaRQ/edit?tab...
Three reasons why American democracy will likely withstand Trump
American democracy is more resilient than you might think.
Shadow library - Wikipedia
Basic Income: The Wonderful World That Might Have Been
Advocates of Basic Income have trotted out a lot of arguments for its benefits, but I never expected John Stossel (“Universal Basic Income Shows Why Giving People ‘Free Money’ Doesn’t Work,” Reason, October 9) to produce such a convincing one. When I was young, If I hadn’t needed to work to support myself, I wouldn’t...
The Last Word On Nothing | Experiencing Joy While the World Burns
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions you can take right now which probably won't magically catalyze a mass movement against Trump but that are still wildly important
Why? Because others will see you do them, and it will make it easier for them to take their own (slightly less lonely but equally beautiful) action by your side
Trump administration sets out to create an America its people have never experienced − one without a meaningful government
The US economy has always been a mix of government regulation and market forces. The balance between those has shifted over time, but never has one side or the other been substantively removed.
Heisenware | Low-Code-Software für Fertigung und Maschinenbau
Entwickle mühelos maßgeschneiderte Apps zur Erfassung und Integration von Betriebsdaten im Maschinenbau und der Fertigung mit Heisenware.
Musk and Trump Are Causing the Dumbest Imperial Collapse in History
Empires have fallen before. But it’s never been this purely idiotic.
From Hypocrisy to Fascism
The futility of pointing out the blatant hypocrisy from the Trump GOP is evidence of a creeping fascism.
A Damnable Disgrace.
In a display of petty insecurity and diplomatic incompetence, Trump and Vance just humiliated themselves on the world stage.
Corporations dig deeper: using bunkers to secure data (and their CEOs)
Several large companies are building underground housing for their data centers and executives.
Europe can defend Ukraine without the US - and it must
Only Europe can defend itself against Russian imperialism. We have the capacity. We simply need the will.
The nightmare of our choice
Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad’s 1899 novella, earned its reputation mostly as a critique of Western colonialism. However, the author also wanted it to convey his horror at what he called the “criminality of inefficiency and pure selfishness” – the exploitation of Africa and Africans hidden behind a thin veneer of imperialistic grandeur.
‘The Strength Even to Comprehend the Incomprehensible’: Rereading Adorno in the Age of Authoritarian Resurgence | International Journal of Transitional Justice | Oxford Academic
ABSTRACT∞. This article reappraises Theodor W. Adorno’s call for ‘working through the past’ as an ethical practice in the wake of Auschwitz, and as a presc
Forbes Real Time Billionaires List - The World's Richest People
Browse today’s rankings of the wealthiest people and families globally. Discover the net worth, age, and other information about the richest people in the world.
World's Billionaire List 2005
Complete list of people with a net worth equal or above 1 billion us dollars worldwide in 2005 as established by Forbes Magazine
Become an Anarchist or Forever Hold Your Peace
Neither courts nor laws will suffice to halt the descent into autocracy. Massive numbers of people will have to take direct action on their own initiative—in other words, to become anarchists.
Measles: The race to understand 'immune amnesia'
Scientists have known for years that measles can alter the immune system – but the latest evidence suggests it's less of a mild tweaking, and more of a total reset.