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We need to nationalise Google, Facebook and Amazon. Here’s why (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by [email protected] to c/technology

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With Google's recent monopoly status being a topic a discussion recently. This article from 2017 argues that we should nationalize these platforms in the age of platform capitalism. Ahead of its time, in fact the author predicted the downfall of Ello.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You prefer your monopolies to not be democratically accountable?

I prefer no monopolies, but if it's something that is a natural monopoly, I certainly don't want it by a for profit foreign company.

Maybe the answer is to split these guys up by country and each government decides what they do with their chunk. We'll see which works best.

Independent not for profits, straight up nationalised, private still(baby Bell), publicly owned and privately run, etc etc.

[–] BelatedPeacock 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Best case it's gonna get bloated and beurocratic (any monopoly, but especially state run ones) and if it's government owned they'll use the power of the government to prevent competition (more than a private monopoly which will still try but won't have as much power to do so).

Worst case it goes off the rails and the service is unavailable/unusable. If it's anything important - say the Soviet's food production - anybody who needs that service doesn't get it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

See things is, I'm a Brit. Water and rail are going to be brought back under groverment control because running them privately has failed. Buses are another one where when the local government has taken back over, services have improved. Partly because they are run providing a service, not a profit.

Certain bit of society's infrastructure is better run at a loss for the better running of the wider economy. If every bit is run at a profit, the whole can be less profitable. Most countries don't have all private road system. France has lot of private motorways, which are strangely empty, because the local avoid them because of cost. Like the M6 Toll in the UK.