 Xbox laying off 2,000 workers because "the industry didn't grow enough" is obtuse at best. And it ignores a simple economic reality even a toddler should be able to understand: Infinite growth is a goddamn myth. It’s the great collective delusion of capitalism. An industry cannot grow year on year indefinitely. At some point you run the fuck out of consumers. If your business model is based on hand waving hypothetical growth, you’re either lying to us or you’re lying to yourself. 29 comments
 @Daojoan I studied economics at school and even then, I felt this forever growth business was iffy. Economics is a pseudoscience - they have 'laws' which aren't laws, there is no way of proving anything, the only hard and fast truths are things that have already happened. They predict continuous market growth because that's what has come before - world population increases, ergo market increases. But new resources are not really being discovered any more, and population increase is slowing.  Economics like to be considered a science, but there is no science in it -- just mental masturbatory theories that advocates insist be followed  Growth is the root of ponzi-ism, the semi-religeous principle upon which all VC fueled industry is based. Growth fuels equity enrichment. Growth is in turn sustained by hype. Once hype fails, growth flags and it is time to dump. Woah to the ponzi-ist who fails to dump in time.   @Daojoan This is even fascinating how billionaires dare to assume that is possible to have infinite growth at finite planet where finite population lives, not everyone of who is ever interested in having the thing or service (e. XBox). I remember that around 2000 there was a joke that is time to sell Windows to Moon dwellers (e. g. to mythical civilization living on Moon in some tales), because windows already has been installed to every PC on Earth, either "officially" or "pirated" way. @Daojoan I always thought that layoffs happen only when business _shrink_, not because business reached the boring limit of possible "market share" within objective reality limits and factors, and if business "stagnate", or have near zero growth, just existing workforce kept untouched.  @Daojoan that's why people track TAM and understand saturation. Which, incidently, is why layoffs are put forward. @Daojoan having worked as a commissioned salesperson in a big box store with ever increasing targets YOY, and bonuses that were only paid on meeting targets, you can understand why salespeople get pushy at times- because their paycheck depends on this lie. You can and do become better at your job but there’s a point where the growth becomes incremental instead of exponential- and years where it must go backwards in order to remain sustainable.  @Daojoan Corporations grow themselves out of business and destroy themselves. That's the nature of #Capitalism. More thoughtful discussion is needed to find an alternative.  @Daojoan yes. This is what alt-reich assholes like Alex Jones and Stefan Molyneux and many others don't understand. They really believe their message appeals to everyone, and anyone that rejects them is an example of "shadow banning".  @Daojoan@mastodon.social @Daojoan Completely agree! This problem was created by Wall Street that wants to keep seeing growth even if a company is profitable. So either that growth comes organically or by acquiring others. #Wallstreet  @Daojoan @lisamelton they had billions and billions to buy Bethesda and Activision but somehow not enough to keep employees on. Thankfully they haven't found a way to saddle workers with debt as part of the hiring process, unlike the acquisition process. Yet.  @Daojoan Not only do I *VERY* strongly agree with you, but I think striving for infinite growth almost always destroys the good thing you have going. It’d be cool if some businesses just said “our goals are long term stability and ensuring our customers are happy”. @Daojoan It would be nice if there were examples of what honest discussion of economic states should look like. including life cycles of a product, saturation points and decline. Growth to maturity of services to a plateau or replacement. Why not offer an alternative to the current investor directed bullshit and just the natural state of an economic situation  @Daojoan especially when the percentage of the value generated through labour which the labour (who also make up the consumer market) receives decreases constantly. People can't consume the products necessary to support things if they can hardly keep a roof over their heads |
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@Daojoan
I suspect they are both lying to themselves AND us simultaneously.