thanks @alberto for highlighting the proposed political ways forward. All of these sound like good ideas. Whether they are politically feasible is naturally a difficult question. What I was really meaning is that Doctorow isn’t giving us, common people, ways forward for ourselves as individuals and communities. Just through politics isn’t a very satisfying answer. If it’s not going to be the pathetic refrain of “they need to change” or “the system has to change” political solutions need to be attached to a credible strategy towards that political change.
This is because Doctorow believes the solutions to these problems to be collective and systemic. And I agree. Just as you cannot recycle your way out of the climate crisis, you cannot de-enshittify by consumer behavior alone, by “voting with your wallet”.
Political, systemic solutions are not necessarily unrealistic, on the contrary. Just last month: EU Parliament adopts Right to Repair law with broad support – Euractiv.
Speaking of individual effort and the topic of recycling, out here in the SF Bay Area, the big junkyards where the metal recycling happens, won’t take in things like old radiators and copper wiring harnesses unless you are licensed to do so. This wasn’t always the case, but has been for the past several years.
But there are now a very large number of small-scale recyclers picking through anything they can find to bring in to exchange for cash and I suspect that the big yards don’t want to deal with all these small fry operators. I can understand their reasons, but it would be helpful if there were more outlets for this kind of recycling.
Taking in aluminum cans is easy, and I still see some old Vietnamese people around carrying a pole across their shoulders balancing two plastic trash bags full of cans they found picking through public trash cans and similar places.
But when it comes to cars, it has become much more difficult. Maybe some are afraid people will steal cars just to strip them and sell the parts as scrap. Indeed, that does happen. It happened to me one time years ago with an old car I had.
But back in the 70s when I lived in Tennessee, there were scrap places that would give you cash for even small amounts of copper, brass, “short steel” and other forms of automobile recycling. I think it would be useful if such outlets opened up. But in this industry too I think there has been a lot of consolidation.
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I agree that political solutions are occasionally practical. But like I say, let’s evaluate the feasibility, work out realistic scenarios and strategies. I think that’s what I’m missing. Not necessarily from Doctorow. But then, that’s recognising that he isn’t detailing the answer, and if we’re generous we just need to accept that responsibility ourselves.
He is advocating at least one part of the answer: stronger anti-trust laws and oversight.
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Well, yes. The question I am putting here is: how is this practically to be achieved, politically? Is it on the agenda, or manifesto, of any major political party that has a chance of being elected or influencing an election? If not, then how, plausibly, could it get there? And if there is doubt about it being achievable politically, what are we left with as common people?
The easy answer is, “we’re screwed.” Or maybe more like it, “we screwed ourselves by constantly voting into office people who cater to the big donors who provide most of their campaign money.” Until and unless that changes in big ways,
I don’t see much progress on this front unless something of a sea change comes over vast numbers of the European and American electorate in which we demand a more egalitarian society. Antitrust enforcement isn’t really a top-of-mind issue for most people and the big donors and forces seeking increased concentration of wealth will do whatever they have to do to prevent it.
Back to Cory for a minute, I have known him and his main issues for more than 20 years. He has been hammering on certain issues for that whole time, refining his arguments as more evidence presents itself. But he is a practical guy and I think knows that his role is to shine light and to educate. His ideas increasingly get traction, but it takes study and a degree of sophistication to grasp it. So, given how huge numbers of people don’t even believe that climate change is exaggerated by humans, I’m not real confident about this issue.
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Car industry often don’t hear the consumers voice. New era in car industry produce to sophisticated vehicles and often not reliable as it used to be ordinary cars in the past. And the every new model is more To conclusion was that car industry is producing cars for which consumers often doesn’t want. But the drivers have no choice, and they are buying what is in the market, since they need a vehicle.
I was asked by @bojanbobic to add my thoughts about the text. I think it’s informative but I do experience it as quite disenfranchising and uninspiring. It repeats the same kind of facts and arguments about stripping consumer, owner and citizen with “capitalist” and “technofeudalist” digital technology. Between the lines I read it as a text telling a story about a society where the people who experience the consequences of unregulated development in products and services have retreated from the field of (party) politics.
Thus these people have left the debate and the lawmaking and regulation process with a walkover.
I also don’t find the text a very engaging read the way it’s written. I wound find it more engaging and intriguing the way that the authors novels are written. I do like several of the authors fictional text but can understand those who get tired of reading this, a collection of bad news written in a long rant. I would have found it very much a source for engagement and action if it would have been formulated in a way like a guide “multiple ways to combat and regulate anti-consumer practices”. I find much more energy in a constructive conversation in a generative vision such as in the way that the goals of the EU wide Right-to-Repair campaign Repair.EU is formulated. I think it is important and it has been fruitful as the new EU laws have been signed - which is only one step in the right direction.
In a leap forward, the new law supports independent repair and improves consumers’ access to affordable repair options, by introducing rules for reasonable prices for original parts as well as banning software practices which prevent independent repair and the use of compatible and reused spare parts. Campaigners applaud this as a step in the right direction for affordable repair.
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