There is much to like and learn from this book, but it has some clear shortcomings too: it does not see the vitality of possibilities with near-future autonomous vehicles.
Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity
Douglas Rushkoff
Last accessed on Tuesday July 24, 2018
I truly enjoyed this book, although in the beginning I didn’t think I would. Rushkoff focuses on what he calls “extractive capitalism” especially near- monopolies who use their power to grow incessantly (Reminds me of Amazon). This analogy to mining seemed right for many industries but raises some doubts in my mind about many service industries where service is really important. Planned parenthood certainly strives to grow, but there is no doubt that they provide a valuable service that many states already have curtailed beyond reason. But even Amazon was brilliant in its cloud strategy and devices like the Kindle and Alexa really improve the world. Even Google is transforming advertising dollars into self driving cars. Yes, this may become an 8 Trillion dollar industry but it will also reduce accidents dramatically, destroy the wasteful insurance industry, and reduce the demand for roads and gasoline. Rushkoff spends a good deal of his time denouncing the financial derivatives industry, but they too will automate finance in ways that will allow everyone to shares in productivity.
The best part of Rushkoff’s analysis came out in his analysis of gigacompanies/unicorns and venture capital’s role in directing companies into gigantic payouts. Here he says: “
“That’s why those firms usually demand a seat on the board of directors, from which they can steer company policy away from moderately successful outcomes and toward winner-takes-all conclusions. Most venture capitalists would rather drive a company into the ground than let it settle in as a sustainable operation. A s long as there is a chance, however small, for a company to become a billion-dollar supersuccess, the investor would rather push on. This means abandoning even surefire profit models if they aren’t going to generate the outlandish returns required by the venture capitalist’s overall portfolio strategy. He or she would prefer to let the company die, squeezing out every possible megawin, than let it carry on as a moderately successful enterprise. Without a major exit through acquisition or IPO, it is worthless on the level that venture capitalists are playing the game.”
This has the ring of truth.
As he says: “ Growth is the single, uncontested, core command of the digital economy.”
Growth is much too important in our economy. We should focus much more on happiness, love, grace, care, and equality. Growth is too easily transformed into greed and lust for power. We need to balance it with fairness and a safety net for everyone: medical care for all, food and leisure for all. As I was sitting on the toilet today I heard a woman say she could not afford a home for her children. This is a travesty. How could we have billionaires who drop a billion for a yacht when children are not being given the essentials! It just makes no sense.
He deals reasonably well with automation and jobs: quoting McAfee and Brynjolfsson, he explains. “Productivity is at record levels, innovation has never been faster, and yet at the same time, we have a falling median income and we have fewer jobs”. What he fails to explain is that the disruption will be enormous, but there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If we do things right, we will have Eden. If things go wrong, there will be a crushing dystopia with the wealthy elites in Nirvana and the rest of us dead.
He has a great quote from Mill, but he does not seem to take it to heart: “Instead, Mill saw the end of growth concluding in what he called the “stationary state”—a sustainable equilibrium in which there would be “a well-paid and affluent body of labourers; no enormous fortunes, except what were earned and accumulated during a single lifetime; but a much larger body of persons than at present, not only exempt from the coarser toils, but with sufficient leisure, both physical and mental, from mechanical details, to cultivate freely the graces of life.”
I take this to be a recognition that the need for labor will end; and in fact automation is bringing that to reality. However, our understanding of the value of human life has to shift, so that we value life on its own, not as work but as living. It is not clear that the elites have the empathy to do that, if our current crop of billionaires like Trump, Kochs, and their ilk are to be understood. But under their megalomania is the spark of empathy, as Gates, Buffet, and others demonstrate. Who will win?
63. Matt Bruenig, “This One Weird Trick Actually Cuts Child Poverty in Half,” demos.org, July 21, 2014.
4,426
65. Anthony B. Atkinson, Inequality: What Can Be Done? (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2015).
4,458
18. Beth Ann Bovino et al., “How Increasing Income Inequality Is Dampening Economic Growth, and Possible Ways to Change the Tide,” globalcreditreport.com, August 5, 2014.
4,600
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy with Some of Their Applications to Social Philosophy (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1909), IV.6.2.
mation.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. Learn more
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle Cloud Reader.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Flip to back Flip to front
Follow the Author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
| Price | New from | Used from |
|
Audible Audiobook, Unabridged
"Please retry" |
$0.00
| Free with your Audible trial | |
|
Paperback, Illustrated
"Please retry" | $4.40 | $2.11 |
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2016
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2021
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2017
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2016
Verified Purchase
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
Top reviews from other countries
David
Provocative and timely
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2017Verified Purchase
Alan M. Towers
Debugging a digital world.
Reviewed in Canada on April 20, 2016Verified Purchase
Andrew G Ede
There was a great deal of naive optimism about the Internet in the ...
Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2016Verified Purchase
BHUPENDRA MADHIWALLA
But who is listening?
Reviewed in India on February 25, 2019Verified Purchase
Alvis James
Great Book!
Reviewed in Canada on November 14, 2018Verified Purchase
