I think there has always been feudalism in one form or another. There is always a class that ultimately owns everything because they can confiscate it, grant it a "title" or tax it. This premise always leads to same outcome it's just a matter of how greedy or insane the current landlord is.

Everything consolidates one way or another, thats why decentralization is both great and doomed.

Anthropologist David Graeber did a book about about this myth called Debt. There is no evidence for class dominant economics bar this relatively small and recent period of time. Obviously the myth has more value than the reality.

interesting dude, thanks for the tip

We need to look on the bright side, we are actually free serfs. We are free to seek a new master and we can seek redress in the crown courts, unfree serfs couldn't. However if we hadn't spent so much bit coin here we might actually be free with the value of it now.

sometimes a imagine a stack of the coins over time and shiver. so then i buy more weed.

Wise words, Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel says the same but takes 350 odd pages.

I call it digital feaudalism. And yes, we have never really exited the feudal system. It just morphs and transforms, keeping the 1% at the top, making almost all the rest their slaves.

yes, were hard wired for this shit

Nice hook

Thanks for sharing.

I see examples of this not just on the internet but in all industries. Walk down most high streets here in the UK and they now pretty much all look identical the same shops, coffee shops and chain restaurants with very few independent offerings. The cost of rent, business rates and all the red tape make it pretty much impossible nowadays for small independents to even start up.

Watching a show about fisherman on the BBC painted a picture of the EU quota system they must use and how the industry is dominated by money and huge boats and how these owners buy up small fishing boats and take the quotas these boats have to use on the mega trawlers.

The car industry seems totally monopolised now and we actually get very little choice - notice how the different makers share chassis and engines and the only real difference you get is the interior and badge. Everything else is pretty much controlled by rules and regulations.

It is obvious that these big players of industry are in cahoots with the those that set the rules and regulations as we saw with the emissions scandal with VW and EU collaboration.

Covid and lockdowns have exacerbated the situation as many small business owners left without any financial supports have gone to the wall while government loans to the huge corporations sit unused in their bank accounts.

Truly depressing times.

This is the model dreamed up by Gabrielle D'Nunzio, Mussolini, Franco and later tried by Stroessner, Pinochet and Thatcher. Always fails cos tho i am a committed capitalist even i realise extraction cannot work for ever as either you run out of victims (Franco, Pinochet) or the victims turn on you (Mussolini, Thatcher) At least Il Duce didn't cry when his turn came, Thatcher mewled and puked like a rat.

thatcher was as much a military dictator as she was latin

Fascinating. Bleak. truly people have been brainwashed by the media and now vote with their wallets. Far more regulation required at the top end, we cant stop the progress, and in many ways it serves us well. Democracy can still win the day, and we can unite for the good of all people. Education is the key, and a few good humans can change the world. It cant be allowed that rampant free market capitalism destroys us. Roll on technical singularity, according to Moores law would be around 2042 but i believe the theory is faultering (Moores law) so might take a bit longer. Technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. We have just leisure time so we study philosophy and all becone enlightened beings living in a tech utopia. Peace

Moore's law is doing fine once you abstract it to include progress besides chip density. Computation overall is on track when you include advances in software and a.i.

it will take more than economics for everyone to spend their leisure time studying philosophy. but im with you at least

Hope so but would we be the same beings, even the same species? I think Nietszche was mostly a clown but "homo, ecce homo" hits home

What is Neo Feudalism and being British mean?

Neo-feudalism refers to a concept that draws parallels between modern societal structures and the feudal system of the Middle Ages. It suggests that power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a few influential individuals or entities, leading to a significant wealth disparity and limited social mobility. In a neo-feudalistic system, there may be an entrenched hierarchy, with a small elite class exerting control over economic, political, and social aspects, while the majority of the population faces limited opportunities and struggles to improve their circumstances.

Being British refers to being a citizen or a resident of the United Kingdom or having a connection to British culture and heritage. It typically implies a sense of national identity associated with the customs, traditions, and values of the British people. It encompasses aspects such as the English language, British history, British institutions, and cultural practices that are prevalent in the UK. However, it's important to note that "being British" can mean different things to different people, as it can encompass a diverse range of identities and perspectives within the multicultural society of the United Kingdom,

digital land barons & their consumers

Like the last feudal era they will ultimately fail IMO. Biden, bezos, bj and the two conos in NZ & Canada are only one mad bomber away from losing all the kleptocratic gains they have extracted. Putin and Xi poss a battalion or two away. Even if the above are stopped there are always despots trying their luck. The better angels of our nature (thanks Pinker, S) have always stayed in the fight so that the new boss is NOT always the same as the old boss (thanks Townshend, P)

A.I. will be the boss and the lowliest worker, humans fit inbetween.

cory doctrow has an interesting perspective on this, saying that all the displacement from global warming and increased healthcare needs will keep humans busy for a very long time.

I doubt a computer could do my job ;)
I work in safety/security

with all due respect it can take a bullet, sacrifice its life, and draw on millions of previous occurrences. that's a helluva start.

What if the people who's lives are at risk all get replaced by robots? Also, isn't that what a self driving car is doing constantly?

cars have relatively simple rules and a very fixed environment. interpreting a dangerous human is a much, much harder problem

Excellent joke:)

AI is well past any notion or idea we can fathom. AI dosent follow ANY rule we stand by.
We as humans will never quite grasp the entire picture, while AI has already found the end of the road. there are things in basic sciences kept from most people, like gravity drives, the TIME axis (think twister/tornado), scalar waves, over unity devices, etc... AI wont follow the bounds because its supressed by money or greed...
we as humans can TRY to think what will happen, but in all reality, were already in the losing seat without any hope for a "comeback kid story"
Stop thinking in a 3rd dimension mindset, and learn quantum physics a little. (want to be totaly mindblown?? look up QUANTUM radar- and how its actualy In use RIGHT NOW!)
--note-- the united states has 3 confirmed quantum computers in use! (i accidently came across one when i traveled for work, but most people wouldnt know to look at the cryogentics involved)
Machine-in-a box- experiment has already proven even the smartest among us, would lose.
me,myself ,personaly, am clueless what outcomes will unfold, but without any doubt , humans are not top priority when AI is really awake. current neuro-nets are mind boggling and google themselves admits they cant explain how its AI created child AI even works. (yes, AI created its own second AI) want to me mind blown again,years ago it was used, look up the AI that was tested in new yorks hospital system. the smartest doctors from the world STILL dont understand what that AI did , and how it was so correct/right 97%.)
i wont lie and say its all terminator 2JD, but that is one possible outcome. we as fellow fleshy companions should enjoy life now and every moment. we wont have many opertunities when AI is out of the box.
Note: its not IF , but WHEN, and WHEN happens?? ---will humans stand a chance or will an outaide force be required? (aliens, god, let your mind wander)

If there is work for humans it has to be something A.I. can't do. We are all teaching it to do everything, even (especially) right here.

I think its like retirement age is on the horizon and humans need to decide what they are going to do with all the free time.

I totally disagree. AI is the continuation of the same pyramid model of which history has proven that it's bound to fail. The resources needed are of a scale that requires heavy (and never ending) financial investments. The food eaten by AI is data. The provider: humanity.

The larger the scale of data one can feed, the better the AI (and it's owners) can fingerprint, the more refined it's targeting.

Let's take an example of "AI" that we all know:

Software Antivirus:

Supposed to be the guardian that protects an operating system against 'threats' and 'threat actors using a variety of techniques to identify them. Pattern based detection, behavioural analysis and heuristics (an expensive word for: 'guesstimating' or an 'educated' guess). Your antivirus is part of a swarm that provides the antivirus vendor with data on new threats and their geographic impact.

However:

The data you provide is 'free', there is no reward or any form of renumeration for the infrastructure that you provided. A computer is not free, internet is not free, the power needed is also not free and although there are free AV solutions, most demand a subscription fee.

In return you get a product and service which does not provide any guarantees that it will adequately protect you against 'threats'.

In reality AV is becoming a relic.

Human intelligence has outsmarted AV and found ways to circumvent it using the 'Trojan horse' approach or by simple social engineering.

As there was no incentive to find or report security vulnerabilities, the data needed to feed pattern/behavioural dried up.

Heuristics is gambling with historical data, if that data is worthless so are heuristics.

And so is any form of AI hence all media and marketing efforts to portray it as the next best evolution. The driver: more profit less people.

The touted theories about a minimal wage without having to work for it are a continuation of AI Utopia. It would make people dependent on their nations through a socialist measure.

That spells national socialism and fascism.

Think twice before you give out data for free in exchange for a freemium service.

data,the new oil. put it in an old ford and it leak evertwhere.

AI are and will be good for work and a suitable replacement for humans, but even when that happens AI will always need us in case something goes wrong. I mean humans created AI, so in the end we’re always gonna have the more important jobs. AI is just there to do jobs in a more efficient way.

AI will come about one day with baby steps at first to "aid humanity" then all of a sudden the rich wont need people to make the food, cars and entertainment.
we will have an outbreak or a massive global reaching catastrophe while they are all hiding in the bunkers lowering the population to around 10% of what it is now and for a while whats left of humanity and the AI that serves them will live in a new golden ages of peace and prosperity ..........




i might of grew up reading a lof of scifi and fantasy


might just be high

im not so sure, anything a human does to recover the system seems doable with a very separate AI

Yes but conflict between AI's might be the most dangerous thing we are looking at here. We are incidental casualties from that perspective. By we I mean humans :)

Yes all the Scifi is about humans vs AI but AI on AI is such a real possibility especially when you consider the fact that governments are mega funding military robots to fight each other.

I'm looking forward to the futher development of AI, especially General AI. I just think it would be so cool to have an amazon alexa sytle AI that you could take round with you and chat to and have a proper engaging conversation with because sometimes I really can't stand to talk to anymore humans aha

in my opinion, there are some "things" machines/AI will never be able to do. inspiration for instance.

fear of AI dominance, as i think, comes mainly from our knowledge-without-understanding of the fact that we are not doing some things that we are supposed to do.

The inspiration process is largely about open mindedness, computers are inherently better at this. If you look at some of the early entrees into the arts like painting and even screen writing they are off to a helluva start.

Music isn't so hard

There are AI playlists on Spotify that generate new music based on current trends and preferences.

It's possible that technology is making everything so much cheaper that the market expects money to be able to buy more in the future. So deflation.

It’s basically a way that central banks control the supply of money. When times are bad and banks are holding onto their money; the central bank sets negative interest rates - this means banks are charged money to keep it with the BOE; this makes them more likely to dish out loans to us plebs;

When times are good and there’s a possible economic bubble, the rates are high to stop banks lending stupidly;

Either way we get screwed at the end of it

Because knowing you will lose 2% is better than not knowing how much you will lose. It’s a billionaire problem, I wouldn’t worry yourself about it;)

Like Germany bonds

it either means the value of the money is headed up or there is an insane arbitrage in hand.

if thats true im gonna go with insane arbitrage

Well guess who the borrower is, the same folks that take your money at gunpoint every time you earn or spend a cent of it.

You have to choose who will destroy your capital the least, i.e. "give me your capital and i will lose you 2% pa which is better then the next manager who will lose you 5%". As bigbum says if you buy bonds, like German or Swiss bonds you do know how much you are going to lose. This is negative rates. Picking the best loser. In the alternative just hold gold or cash but that brings its own problems. Gold is volatile (advocates say its the safest, you can always trade with gold) as for cash, you need to stash it and parley inflation risk?