Big Tech’s Algorithms Are Built With Invisible Labor
Don’t let the shiny products and ping-pong tables at work fool you: tech platforms are just as reliant on a wretched, toiling workforce as any other company under capitalism.
9 Articles by: Rob Larson
Rob Larson is a professor of economics at Tacoma Community College and author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley, out now from Haymarket Books.
Elon Musk and Silicon Valley Don’t Know How to Fix the Transportation System
Elon Musk and his billionaire brethren have all sorts of harebrained solutions to fix US transportation. But we already know what would benefit workers: well-funded public transit and fast trains, powered by a renewable energy grid that serves everyone.
The Processor Chip Industry Is Another Ugly Capitalist Oligopoly
Processing chips have become central to our lives, running smartphones and TVs alike. But disruptions in the chip industry are driving up inflation — and exposing the industry for the ugly capitalist oligopoly that it is.
It’s Going to Take More Than Antitrust Law to Rein in Big Tech
The federal government’s landmark lawsuit against Google has been hailed as a bold step to rein in Big Tech. But we’ll need much more than US antitrust law to match the economic power of a global juggernaut like Google.
Bill Gates’s Philanthropic Giving Is a Racket
Bill Gates recently resigned from the board of Microsoft to focus full time on philanthropy. It’s a perfect time to remember: billionaire-funded philanthropy is a public-relations scam.
The Internal Emails Big Tech Executives Never Wanted You to See
Congress is demanding that Silicon Valley companies release their internal emails. If history is any guide, we know what to expect: revelations of anti-worker scheming, corporate power plays, and all sorts of other malevolent machinations.
Gambling With Your Life
Boeing’s corner-cutting likely killed hundreds of people in the recent Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes. Capitalism is to blame.
Capitalist Freedom Is a Farce
Milton Friedman was wrong. Capitalism doesn’t foster freedom — it produces autocratic workplaces and tyrannical billionaires.
Pharmageddon
The Left should push rising popular outrage at drug companies’ extortionate prices to its tipping point.