pluralistic ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

Today's threads (a thread)

Inside: The credit card fee victory is a defeat; and more!

Archived at: https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/28/concentrated-benefits/

#Pluralistic

1/

c0dec0dec0de ,
@c0dec0dec0de@hachyderm.io avatar

@pluralistic love the ending ‘graph:
The lesson of 40 years of pro-monopoly policy couldn't be clearer: you can either have an economy that is regulated by lawmakers who are at least nominally transparent and democratically accountable, or you can have an economy regulated by totally unaccountable and opaque monopolists. Fail to do the former, and you will always end up with the latter.

pluralistic OP ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me this Sunday (Mar 31) at Wondercon in Anaheim, then Boston (Apr 11), Providence (Apr 12) and beyond!

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

2/

18+ pluralistic OP ,
@pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

The credit card fee victory is a defeat: Small cartels beat large industries every time.

https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112173980072461752

3/

An old-time, hand-tinted picture-postcard of a small-town main street. The sky has been replaced by a giant Visa logo. In the foreground is a giant 'capitalist' figured in top-hat and suit, carrying a bulging sack with a dollar-sign on it. He is bellowing over his shoulder.
ALT
  • Reply
    • 18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Hey look at this

    4/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Disneyland jacks up admission at 190% of inflation https://web.archive.org/web/20040404060758/https://www.yesterland.com/tickets.html

    British cops identify 200 schoolchildren as potential terrorists https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-identify-200-children-as-potential-terrorists-1656027.html

    Bletchley Park rebuilds the bombes — code crackers that won the war https://makezine.com/article/technology/computers-mobile/code-cracker-remade/?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

    Verified by Visa: British banks phish their own customers https://web.archive.org/web/20090331094020/http://www.links.org/?p=591

    5/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Motion picture industry continues to stagger under piracy with mere record-breaking income https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/piracy-notwithstanding-mpaa-enjoys-a-very-strong-year-again/

    Sen Lamar Alexander: if shills have to tell Congress who’s paying them, it will “chill speech” https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-republican-street-fight-over-transparency-in-government

    Ethiopia: the first “off-the-shelf” surveillance state https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/03/25/they-know-everything-we-do/telecom-and-internet-surveillance-ethiopia

    6/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    How hedge funds, Goldman Sachs, and corrupt executives used Gymboree’s chaotic bankruptcy to cash out while destroying the careers of loyal employees https://theintercept.com/2019/03/25/gymboree-bankruptcy-severance-scam/

    Study finds 95% of all Bitcoin trading volume is fake, designed to lure in ICOs https://web.archive.org/web/20190401033546/https://go.technologyreview.com/134-fake-bitcoin-trading

    Sting operation: the NRA explains to white nationalist Australian political party how to deflect gun control calls after a massacre https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/3/26/how-to-sell-a-massacre-nras-playbook-revealed

    7/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Millennials are killing McMansions https://web.archive.org/web/20190920074507/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/millennials-vs-baby-boomers-big-houses-real-estate-market-problems-2019-3

    What comes after neoliberalism? https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/28/imagine-a-horse/#perfectly-spherical-cows-of-uniform-density-on-a-frictionless-plane

    8/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Yesterday's threads: End of the line for corporate sovereignty; and more!

    https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic/112169627678120186

    9/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    My last novel was "The Lost Cause," a solarpunk novel of radical hope in the climate emergency, from Tor Books (US)/Head of Zeus (UK):

    http://lost-cause.org

    Signed, personalized copies available from Dark Delicacies:

    https://www.darkdel.com/store/p3007/Pre-Order_Signed_Copies%3A_The_Lost_Cause_HB.html#/

    --

    My latest nonfiction book is "The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation" from Verso Books:

    http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

    Signed copies available from Book Soup:

    https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245

    Both are national bestsellers!
    10/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    My ebooks and audiobooks (from Tor Books, Head of Zeus, McSweeneys, Beacon, Verso and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."

    https://craphound.com/shop/

    11/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Upcoming appearances:

    12/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

    13/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Upcoming appearances (cont'd):

    14/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    Recent appearances:

    15/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    You can follow these posts as a daily blog at pluralistic.net: no ads, trackers, or data-collection!

    Here's today's edition: https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/28/concentrated-benefits/

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    16/

    18+ pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me this Sunday (Mar 31) at Wondercon in Anaheim, then Boston (Apr 11), Providence (Apr 12) and beyond!

    https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/16/narrative-capitalism/#bezzle-tour

    eof/

    Sebprovencher ,
    @Sebprovencher@cosocial.ca avatar

    @pluralistic hope you visit #Montreal again soon !

    pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    @Sebprovencher me too!

    yaygya ,
    @yaygya@c.im avatar

    @pluralistic oof, no Edmonton again. Hopefully I can make it down to Calgary.

    pluralistic OP ,
    @pluralistic@mamot.fr avatar

    @yaygya Sorry!

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