Oct 17, 2023·edited Oct 17, 2023Liked by Tara McMullin
Love where you took this:
"But they explain a commercial phenomenon rather than a phenomenon of political economy. The machinations of commerce are important to any of us cobbling together precarious livelihoods as independent workers. However, without understanding the political economy at work, we end up caught in the commerce machinery we're trying to operate."
Which also gestures at what most bothers me about the premise/prompted me to send you the podcast: using the same framework that's been around since 2010-- which boils down to "I will impart secret and hard earned knowledge (for a fee!) so that you too can have what I have"-- breaks down at a certain scale.
Because becoming a billionaire is not a question of unlocking secret information or knowledge! For sure, possible with 6 figure businesses, yep, even 7 figure. But the political problem of Billionaire's existence is fundamentally built on monopolizing vectors and other assets…in order to extract wealth at great scale. So that scale of extraction requires that most do not have access to it's mechanism. So there’s a fundamental…I’m not sure the right word…mistake? misunderstanding? in the premise.
( Also let it be known that @Tara McMullin and I always do our best to put snarky text threads to fruitful purpose. )
"So there’s a fundamental…I’m not sure the right word…mistake? misunderstanding? in the premise." <-- Exactly. After I looked into the original article & the first episode of the show, all I could see were the glaring omissions (or ignorance) of the structural peculiarities that make it possible to even THINK about building a billion-dollar company. Also, some of the examples they cite are just ludicrous...
Anyhow, I've got like ten OTHER essays started in my head on this topic. 😂 😭
Love where you took this:
"But they explain a commercial phenomenon rather than a phenomenon of political economy. The machinations of commerce are important to any of us cobbling together precarious livelihoods as independent workers. However, without understanding the political economy at work, we end up caught in the commerce machinery we're trying to operate."
Which also gestures at what most bothers me about the premise/prompted me to send you the podcast: using the same framework that's been around since 2010-- which boils down to "I will impart secret and hard earned knowledge (for a fee!) so that you too can have what I have"-- breaks down at a certain scale.
Because becoming a billionaire is not a question of unlocking secret information or knowledge! For sure, possible with 6 figure businesses, yep, even 7 figure. But the political problem of Billionaire's existence is fundamentally built on monopolizing vectors and other assets…in order to extract wealth at great scale. So that scale of extraction requires that most do not have access to it's mechanism. So there’s a fundamental…I’m not sure the right word…mistake? misunderstanding? in the premise.
( Also let it be known that @Tara McMullin and I always do our best to put snarky text threads to fruitful purpose. )
"So there’s a fundamental…I’m not sure the right word…mistake? misunderstanding? in the premise." <-- Exactly. After I looked into the original article & the first episode of the show, all I could see were the glaring omissions (or ignorance) of the structural peculiarities that make it possible to even THINK about building a billion-dollar company. Also, some of the examples they cite are just ludicrous...
Anyhow, I've got like ten OTHER essays started in my head on this topic. 😂 😭
Lol same.
Also have to rewrite my “we should all not be millionaires” manifesto 🙄