Paul Mason - Post Capitalism

One of the things that sticks-out about this talk on technology’s effect on Capitalism for me is, the concept of Non Rival goods. Rival goods are something like a parking space, or an ice cream cone. Usually only one person uses these at a time.

One of the effects that digital data have had on Rival Goods like music, is that before the internet, if you had a CD, vinyl album, or cassette, only one person could play it at a time. But, the web makes it so that the same song file can be copied, and just because you’re playing it right now doesn’t mean I can’t play it at a completely different location at the same time, as well as a trillion other people for that matter.

Something else that stood out about his argument is: When iTunes had ninety-five percent of the online music market share, Love Me Do by The Beatles and some awful B-Side song from an unknown band both cost the same price, 99 cents. Which demonstrates that this is not Capitalism, but something more like controlled prices like in the Soviet Union. Except, instead of the state setting a price across the board, it’s a corporation. - Call it what you want. Whether it’s a private or government organization in control of it, it’s a form of government. Anarcho-Capitalists and Libertarians beware.

(In the news: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are still leading in the presidential race, Dakota Pipeline is being blocked by Native Americans.)

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