The Culture of Control

It is quite interesting with social media earning at the moment, because most content creators have to maintain several platforms concurrently, investing themselves into each, yet still owning nothing. Just like happens to content from rival platforms, there could very well come a time (if it hasn't already) where platforms will throttle user reach of those who have large following on competitor platforms, or use that creator as a way to advertise rival creators who they want to promote.

But, while there are many platforms out there to choose from, one has to strategically approach where they are going to spend their time and effort - and where what they offer is best able to leverage the algorithms. And, it takes a lot of effort to maintain profiles on these platforms as an individual, unlike the celebrities who have "people for that" doing the real work. And, not only is there no guarantee to get paid, there is also no guarantee that the platform will keep paying.

Remember, these are corporations that aim to maximize profits through algorithmic management. This means that they will also find opportunities to pay some content creators more, and some less, but ultimately to increase their own bottom line. They don't care who among the creators actually gets paid, as long as the platform itself makes money. They don't care about quality or impact of content, they don't care about whether the creators are good or bad people, they don't care whether what is consumed is harmful or helpful - it is just about money.

But, for a long time now I have been thinking a lot about how the algorithms of business are built around destroying relationships and communities. It isn't because of some super-secret cabal going after the family for population control, it is just incentive alignment. The incentive is profit at any cost, and that model will ultimately lead to breakdowns of society.

It is inevitable.

Because, disconnected, unhealthy, lonely, broken people, are better for business. So, even if the corporations don't intentionally look to destroy community, they do. There are even business models that facilitate relationship breakdowns, like Tinder, which is part of the productization of human relationship models, working off the degradation of interpersonal skills that has happened through the incessant screen usage for the last two decades. They call Instagram and TikTok social platforms, but they really are the antithesis of developing deep relationships. Instead, they encourage people to perform for strangers for the chance at money, while the pimping platforms rake in cash.

But it isn't just the social platform algorithms that do this, all business is essentially incentivized to categorize and compartmentalize the market, in order to find and target the highest profit sectors. And again, disconnected people are more valuable. For instance, recently divorced friends went from having a house with three bedrooms, to a house with three bedrooms and an apartment with two bedrooms, because their child will stay at both places. And of course, each place needs its own bed, couch and frying pan. As well as a fridge, a stove, and a TV.

Number of single-person households in the United States from 1960 to 2022

The population in the US in 1960 was 180 million, which means that the population hasn't yet doubled in that time. However, the number of single-person households has increased by 600%. You can also see the the GFC dip, where people lost their houses, or couldn't afford to move out. Yes, there are cultural elements to this, but what has driven our culture to become more isolated from each other?

United States marriage rate, 1900-2018

That is a pretty clear trend covering the last 50 years, isn't it? People aren't getting married, birthrates are falling:

Since 1960, birthrates have over halved in the US, and even more in Canada. But it raises an interesting question to consider, does more money lower birthrates, or do the activities that lead to making more money, lower birthrates?

In 1960, the per capita GDP was $3000 and in 2022 it is almost $77,000 dollars. Inflation? Well, not quite, because 3000 in 1960 dollars is only 30,000 today. That means that while it has 10x'ed, the GDP has gone 25x. That is an amazing difference. and interestingly, the median salary in the US in 1960 was $5,600 - you know what it is today? Yes! 10x! $56,420. So, whilst the average person is earning the same, we are each generating 250% more wealth for the non-average earners - The 0.1%.

So many of our living standards have improved, but we aren't necessarily happier for it as individuals, or better off in our communities. Depression has increased, addiction has increased, and we are escalating closer into large-scale war.

Debt has increased, ownership is decreasing.

All this wealth is being generated, yet we have never been more indebted, never owned less than we do now. We are renters and as such, we don't feel the need to be a value-adding participant in the communities. We can be in it for ourselves, earning at any cost, on platforms and through corporations who will drive their profit at any costs algorithms, no matter what it costs us as a society. We have never been richer, yet we have never had this poor quality of interpersonal relationships in our history.

And we should be asking the question why.

The entire economy is measured by how much the money increases or decreases, regardless of what the affects of the actions have on local, national, or global communities. The economy doesn't care about how we feel, or if we are fulfilled in life. Nor do the governments and corporations that use us to build their wealth and power. It is all about getting the numbers to go up, by selling us on a world of convenience and innovation, that keeps our attention away from the true costs.

And we keep buying in, and breaking apart.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]