[edu]

Code absolutely belongs there. Like any technology (be it printing presses, weapons, or algorithms) code is neutral by design, but not by impact.

It can bolster democracies or undermine them. The real agency lies with those who wield it. And it's rarely the coders. It's the leaders, the platforms, the systems that choose how code is deployed.

[pjc50]

Does open source code count as "capital"? It also has a real and significant effect.

[konart]

That's my point. Any tech can (and is) used for this. There's really no point in putting word "code" there. It adds very little additional context. Only in my opinion mostly serves the other goal - to sell.

[mc32]

You can argue the same for the capital that goes in. It’s used for what it’s used. By itself it’s neutral.

[dataflow]

I don't think you can make this argument. Capital is neither neutral, nor a technology. Currency would at least satisfy one of those two. But capital is a broader concept that is pretty much by definition a form of power, and power's natural tendency is to lead to corruption.

[konart]

Yes, but I think that questions like

1. How come people are able to accumulate so much capital?

2. How come people are able to use the capital to influence life of other people in all ways possible to their liking?

are more interesting and worth asking.

Yes code and capital are both "tools". But you can't just write some code and install cameras at every corner. You need some political influence to do so. And capital buys you this influence.

[mc32]

It’s a power distribution law. You can try to influence it artificially and suppress it to varying results.

It’s kind of like asking why are there so many small quakes and why do there have to be great big quakes once in a while? Why don’t we just get millions more small quakes instead?

[Arainach]

>How come people are able to use the capital to influence life of other people in all ways possible to their liking?

This sentence applies to "code" as well as to "capital"

[jmye]

And yet you can “just write some code” and weapons a generation of young men, and cause an incredible increase in depression in a generation of young women.

Pretending code has no direct and obvious impact is rank naivety.

[croes]

By code doesn’t mean all code it just describes the modus operandi to distinguish them from the old type that used oil for instance

[konart]

Again, this is my point: there's no real reason to distinguish them from the old types. :)