• Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    Workers should collectively own the Means of Production and direct it democratically as they see fit.

    • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      More and more companies are replacing workers with independent contractors who are running their own businessness where they are in complete control. We have now begun seeing some workers be replaced by AI, and this is a trend that will only continue to grow. This means that we are heading to a future that you described, a board of directors, or maybe even a single CEO who is the sole worker in a company and has complete control.

      • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        That’s not collective ownership, nor would it actually be a viable system, when production costs are practically 0 there will be no profits.

        • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Why does reducing production costs reduce profits?

          If everyone in a company are equal owners, then how is that not collective ownership?

          • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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            5 months ago

            Excellent question. Where do you believe prices come from? We can work from there.

            As for individually owned companies of single people, that’s just a bunch of sole proprietorships. I mean the whole of society should own the whole of Capital.

            • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Prices come from what people are willing to pay. Sure, in a distant future where there are super cheap and available robots to make everything with no human labor, everything is free. In the meantime, due to current ownership differences, if you are selling something and your cost of production decreases, but your prices stay the same, then your profits increase.

              Who do you imagine choosing what society wants? As of now, we are at a technological wall when it comes to provably fair voting systems. Nobody has invented one yet. Even something as simple as presidential elections are just trust based. Even if we had a hypothetical way for us to all vote on how all resources are used, people simply don’t have the time or interest to constantly be voting on every decision of resources.

              • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                5 months ago

                Prices come from supply, demand, and value. Prices will naturally fall to Cost of Production where there is Competition. I suggest reading Wage Labor and Capital if you want a thorough explanation, prices don’t materialize out of mid-air.

                Society can choose what society wants. You can elect managers and government functions to allocate, manage, and distribute production.

                • AIhasUse@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  Those managers you are referring to are the current system. The way we elect who has the power is with our money. If you want Samsung to make choices about resources, you buy Samsung devices or stock. This is the fairest voting system we’ve managed to create.

                  Thanks for the link. I agree with your assessment of where prices come from. Eventually, robots will drive the costs down to nothing.

                  • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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                    5 months ago

                    That is not how our current system works, because you assume Samsung has no outsized agency and that people have a plethora of chocies.

                    If you have any questions about WLaC, I can answer for you.

      • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
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        5 months ago

        More and more companies are replacing workers with independent contractors who are running their own businessness where they are in complete control.

        Lol. In many cases, that’s just a tax dodge. I worked as an “independent contractor” for a cleaning company once, they supplied the equipment and told me where to go and when and what to do, same with all the other workers. The only formal employees were management and the only difference for us was fewer benefits.