[green_man_lives]

Maybe my feelings are a bit hyperbolic, but 2023 really feels like the year that the internet "died". That plus heatwaves, price increases, etc, it really feels like the death throes of neoliberal capitalism akin to what the 70s were for managerial capitalism.

It's insane to me that with the threat of climate change looming, the US spent trillions on foreign wars. In the aftermath of 2008, when money was free we spent trillions more on what? More efficient ways to sell shit people didn't need or couldn't afford?

We had two decades and trillions upon trillions of dollars to improve our system in so many ways and it was almost entirely squandered. Even the most politically and financially ignorant Americans can feel how crappy our system has been for the last two decades.

The question is, what will replace it? A human-centric economy that invests money into physical and human infrastructure? Or the meme of neo-feudalism with people working in Amazon cages and paying for Domino's pizza in installments.

[zweifuss]

For me, the Internet was dying in 1997. Ads, scams, and Pr0n were everywhere.

Let's recognize that in not-so-small parts of the world, the Internet is still on the path to becoming ubiquitous, reliable, and affordable.

[green_man_lives]

I was not even alive during the Eternal September, but the way I feel now feels like how Usenet old-timers describe it.

[titzer]

> and it was almost entirely squandered.

Oh, it went to exactly the intended place: propping up asset prices, corporate profits, and the stock market. Absolutely nothing was an accident.