this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2024
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[–] [email protected] 101 points 8 months ago (2 children)

In 2017, there were 74,260 moderators of active subreddits on the site.. We can only assume that number has gone up over time.

If they were to pay each of those moderators $50 a week, or $2600 a year (which is probably generous for the kind of work they've already been doing for free), it would almost exactly match the amount of Spez's pay package ($193 mil). And they actually keep the site RUNNING. Spez is literally just a leech.

[–] WhatAmLemmy 49 points 8 months ago (1 children)

This is basically the crux why capitalism is inherently unfair, anti-democratic, and does not distribute wealth based on value in any way shape or form.

This tool is only paid such a figure because he was a member of the founding group, and continued to hold on for 15+ years. He may have been pivotal to their success, or he may have been an idiot that held them back for 15 years. Either way, after the initial x number of years, and y number of employees get involved, whatever value he provided is gradually diluted by the pool of employees. In the case of Reddit this effect is multiplied, as the mods and users have generated 99% of the sites value for the majority of its existence. They could have added zero features for the last decade; just focused on engineering problems to do with scaling, and the site would've prospered.

None of this matters to capitalism, as it distributes wealth (value) based on a range of convoluted claims to contracts and ownership, designed to overwhelmingly bias pre-existing capital; people who were born first, the luckiest, whose ancestors were the most cutthroat and ruthless (e.g. monarchs, lords, landowners, the church). It doesn't have anything to do with actual value to society, or even within a specific business.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

as it distributes wealth (value) based on a range of convoluted claims to contracts and ownership, designed to overwhelmingly bias pre-existing capital;

You can just say by power, it distributed wealth based on who holds the most power/leverage.

[–] rockSlayer 25 points 8 months ago (2 children)

He feels entitled to their labor for free, simply because he thinks he deserves free labor.

[–] EdibleFriend 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I mean....they fucking volunteered for a free position and could leave at any moment. I hate reddit and I hate this dude but I don't get why 'why aren't you paying the mods' keeps coming up.

They went out of their way to take a position that they knew they would never be paid for lol

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

I was a moderator and left.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

In reality, he's entitled to it because they keep giving it to him. Why? I could only guess at their reasons, but it is what it is.

[–] rockSlayer 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

No one is entitled to free labor. We settled this issue 161 years ago.

[–] FartsWithAnAccent 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

We settled this issue 161 years ago.

Eh...