Cult Of Commoditization

Hand build a chair. Sit in it frequently. Adjust it. Think hard about it.

Eventually you'll have a really good chair. But it'll take a long time.

Now I have a company in Tijuana that makes chairs from styrofoam. Any chair you got we just laser-scan and auto-fab. Costs about 20 cents per chair. They're stronger, more durable, and lighter than anything you can build by hand.

But there's a lot of toxic waste. My workers suffer all the agonies of poverty. And I mark up the chairs so they can't afford 'em themselves. And they have to work so long they can't take the time they need to make really good chairs for themselves.

Most of them have bad backs. I call that progress.

Wah-wah-wah.

Am I supposed to feel bad for someone who doesn't have the skills I do? I'm priviledged goddamn it. Whoops, what happened to my skills, they're obsolete! What happened to my job - it's outsourced to some bloody Bangalorean! Hey, I can't make a living around here - all these bits of software I used to write have been commodotized!

And my back hurts!

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