A Dutch version of this article has been published on doorbraak.eu.
Israel and Hamas have signed a ceasefire: “we” finally have what we have been chanting for.
So what now? Business as usual? Move on with our lives?
Many people are eager to do so, and many are already doing so.
But this is unacceptable.
So what do we do?
The miserable truth is that the worst kinds of injustice can often not be undone: we cannot raise 100,000 Palestinians back from the death.
This post is part of a series about the alleged return of feudalism with the advent of Big Tech.
What is capitalism? What words, ideas and/or concepts would you generally associate with it?
Some might say it is all about “technological development” driven by the “desire to be rich”. Others might say something like “greed” and the “naked pursuit of power”.
But greed, lust for power and even technological development have been around for much longer than capitalism.
This post originally appeared on the website of OpenTech(AUC).
Imagine you’re at a house party, and people are getting drunk. Slowly but steadily, they are raising their voice. And as more and more people do, you are going to have to raise your voice as well. At the end of the night, everyone is screaming in each others’ ears, without being any more audible than when everyone was talking at a normal volume.
When our governments insist with all their propaganda tools that speaking out against Israel is antisemitic - conflating antizionism with antisemitism - we can’t be surprised that some angry teens in Amsterdam - furious about an ongoing genocide - make the same (stupid and dangerous) mistake.
Fighting the latter, implies fighting the former.
“We only have to internalize the externalities”.1 That’s what “environmental economists” say. For example by imposing a tax on the production/consumption that damages the environment, or by requiring producers/consumers to buy tradable emission rights.
But there are some fundamental issues in their way of thinking:
This blog post first appeared in February 2024 on the website of OpenTech(AUC).
Normally, when you feel you’re getting the short end of a stick, for example when the supermarket sells you expensive mushy cauliflowers, or when the organization you volunteer at treats you disrespectfully, you go and find what you need somewhere else.
This ability to “defect” to an alternative when you feel you’re not getting a good deal, is an important “power” that helps you get reasonable deals.1
Bonuskaartweigeraars van Nederland: het heeft (enigszins) zin wat we doen!
Ik ben zo iemand die geen vaste bonuskaart heeft. Soms vraag ik een kassamedewerker of ik even tijdelijk een bonuskaart mag lenen. Soms neem ik een eigen bonuskaart mee, maar die heb ik dan hooguit een paar weken. Ik ben gewoon nog niet klaar voor zo’n long-term commitment.
Ik heb daarbij altijd het idee dat ik het de Albert Heijn op die manier moeilijk maak om mij als consument te doorgronden. Of dat ik daarmee in ieder geval niet bijdraag in de hedendaagse informatie asymmetrie, waarin de grote bedrijven ons veel beter kennen dan wij hen.
Tiny interaction among holobionts on Mastodon: