Pluralistic: Antitrust is a labor issue (25 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Society
Taxation is Theft: An Anarchist Guide to Taxation
“Tax the rich” is an all too common refrain on the left which, thanks to left unity, has even been echoed by many self-proclaimed anarchists. “Taxation is theft” on the other hand is a slogan many anarchists are hesitant to repeat due to its association with right-libertarians despite it being far more consistent with anarchist...
The way we live in the United States is not normal
Why we are buying land in Italy
Pluralistic: The specific process by which Google enshittified its search (24 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Why Urbanism Failed
Business expectations are condemned to the quarterly. Social expectations have to be generational.
No Reservations
How bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have turned the restaurant reservation system inside out.
Rising Tide Rents and Robber Baron Rents
The Replacement of Organic Search with Advertising by Google and Amazon and What That Might Mean for the Future of AI
How Burnout Became Normal — and How to Push Back Against It
Slowly but steadily, while we’ve been preoccupied with trying to meet demands that outstrip our resources, grappling with unfair treatment, or watching our working hours encroach upon our downtime, burnout has become the new baseline in many work environments. From the 40% of Gen Z workers who believe burnout is an inevitable part of success, to executives who believe high-pressure, “trial-by-fire” assignments are a required rite of passage, to toxic hustle culture that pushes busyness as a badge of honor, too many of us now expect to feel overwhelmed, over-stressed, and eventually burned out at work. When pressures are mounting and your work environment continues to be stressful, it’s all the more important to take proactive steps to return to your personal sweet spot of stress and remain there as long as you can. The author presents several strategies.
High-Paying, ‘Anti-Hustle’ Jobs Gaining Traction In 2024
The hustle culture is becoming a thing of the past, replaced with high-salaried, "anti-hustle" jobs in six figures due to a rising demand for more work-life balance.
Investing in America
The “Anarchy” of Egoism: Max Stirner’s Radical Individualism
No gods, no masters — no rights, no duties, nothing?
Pioneer Square Labs
PSL is a startup studio and early-stage venture capital fund in Seattle, WA.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Wikipedia
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, it was accepted by the General Assembly as Resolution 217 during its third session on 10 December 1948 at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, France. Of the 58 members of the United Nations at the time, 48 voted in favour, none against, eight abstained, and two did not vote.
Donuts and Dyson spheres ⊗ Eight Google employees invented modern AI ⊗ Is $38 trillion a lot?
No.307 — Why the world cannot afford the rich ⊗ The information grey goo ⊗ AI “deathbots” are helping people in China grieve
Here’s a Clever Way to Uncover America’s Voting Deserts
Mathematicians are using topological abstractions to find places poorly served by polling stations.
This Thing is Bigger Than Journalism
Journalism as we knew it is washing away. But the story is bigger than journalism alone, and bigger than a story alone can tell. (Image borrowed from the brilliant Despair.com.) We who care about j…
Pluralistic: The true post-cyberpunk hero is a noir forensic accountant (17 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Pluralistic: Precaratize bosses (19 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Pluralistic: Greedflation, but for prisoners Greedflation, but for prisoners (20 Apr 2024) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
Common-pool resource - Wikipedia
In economics, a common-pool resource (CPR) is a type of good consisting of a natural or human-made resource system (e.g. an irrigation system or fishing grounds), whose size or characteristics makes it costly, but not impossible, to exclude potential beneficiaries from obtaining benefits from its use. Unlike pure public goods, common pool resources face problems of congestion or overuse, because they are subtractable. A common-pool resource typically consists of a core resource (e.g. water or fish), which defines the stock variable, while providing a limited quantity of extractable fringe units, which defines the flow variable. While the core resource is to be protected or nurtured in order to allow for its continuous exploitation, the fringe units can be harvested or consumed.[1]
Archives as Commons
The Santa Barbara News-Press was born in 1868 and died in 2023 at age 155. Its glory years ran from 1932 until 2000, when the New York Times sold it to Wendy McCaw, who rode it to hell. That ride b…
The Story of Titanium
The earth contains a lot of titanium - it’s the ninth most abundant element in the earth’s crust. By mass, there’s more titanium in the earth’s crust than carbon by a factor of nearly 30, and more titanium than copper by a factor of nearly 100. But despite its abundance, it's only recently that civilization has been able to use titanium as a metal (titanium dioxide has been in use somewhat longer as a paint pigment). Because titanium so readily bonds with oxygen and other elements, it doesn’t occur at all in metallic form in nature.
What Really Happened When Google Ousted Timnit Gebru
She was a star engineer who warned that messy AI can spread racism. Google brought her in. Then it forced her out. Can Big Tech take criticism from within?
A Prominent AI Ethics Researcher Says Google Fired Her
Timnit Gebru is a leader among those examining the societal impacts of the technology. She had also criticized the company's diversity efforts.
Our continued investment in Black founders and funders
Google for Startups Black Founders Fund welcomes 50 new entrepreneurs and Alphabet fulfills its $100 million commitment to Black\u002Dled VCs.
Perceiving Affordances Differently: The Unintended Consequences When Young Autistic Adults Engage with Social Media
What is the most shameful line of work?
A Reddit thread reveals the careers deemed most unethical and shameful, from lawyers enabling injustice to the paparazzi ecosystem
THE SILENT POWER OF THE N.S.A. (Published 1983)
1996 magazine ad says it all about 2026
"They say in thirty years, a burger and fries could cost $16, a vacation $12,400, and a basic car $65,000," leads a 1996 ad for financial services company TIAA (then…
John Battelle's Search Blog Do We Even Have The Spine To Sacrifice, Just A Little Bit?
Old people are always complaining about how things were harder when they were young. Walking to school in the snow, uphill both ways, that whole thing. So forgive me as I embark on what initially m…