Metadata
2023-01-01
2023-04-27
book

Proposed Solutions in abolish_silicon_valley

Reclaiming entrepreneurship

  • publicly owned fund for entrepreneurs (both for new products and for businesses to transition to worker coops or alternative management models)
  • judgement based on practicality rather than market dominance
  • fair split between workers and founders
  • eliminate private investment funds

A company that's able to mint billions is too large to be run for the benefit of a small number of shareholders

Reclaiming work:

  • raise minimum wage and integrate minimum raises to account for inflation
  • universal healthcare and better unemployment to allow workers more autonomy
  • unionization in all industries to allow for workers a way to organize against toxic environments
  • migrant worker benefits that allow them to switch jobs without being dependent on their employer
  • worker representatives on corporate boards (if not a removal of boards entirely)
  • institute a maximum wage based on the lowest wage (including contractors)

Reclaiming Public Services:

  • universal healthcare, publicly funded primary and secondary education, public banking
  • nationalize mobility (scooter companies, public transportation, etc)
  • combine the concepts from private shared office spaces with public libraries

Reclaiming Intellectual Property:

  • reduce copyright and trademark expiration dates
  • patents should only be granted under specific circumstances, and not traceable
  • work funded through public grants should have open licenses
  • source code should be opened after a certain amount of time (or alternatively, at minimum, a public and open API that contains a large amount of the featureset)
  • data should be in control of the people, and not seen or used as an asset for the company

Public interest should triumph over concerns of private investment

we should see data as belonging to the people who created it, and to the public at large

Reclaiming Culture:

  • remove the ability to advertise a product that doesn't meet an ethical standard
  • remove advertising from spaces that accept public funding
  • greatly reduce abilities to target advertisement, and mandate opt-in
  • political advertising should be public record
  • ad-based services that would struggle under new regulations should receive public funding (3)