News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by rbanffy on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @12:31PM (#24284068)
We should never forget the human cost of our civilization, from the people who toil endless hours to assemble our phones and computers, to the near slaves who extract the raw materials used in them, to the nomadic workers who pick the crops that end up in our supermarket, to the employee that restocks the shelves that has to work two shifts to feed their family and still requires food stamps to do that.

Of course, some follies had higher human cost than others, but our comfortable lives are not entirely bloodless.

Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by m0llusk on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @01:47PM (#24285070)
You are comparing smart phones and the development of modern industry and infrastructure with Stalin's purges and the Great Terror of 1936-1938. Results and body counts matter. Not entirely bloodless, indeed.
Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by gridlockd on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @01:37PM (#24284927)
The difference is that, unless they have been scammed by traffickers, every one of these workers chose that fate over a worse fate.

If you're buying a phone, or some produce, or pick something out of a shelf, you don't have blood on your hands, you have contributed to someone's life being a little better than it would otherwise have been.

Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by andrepd on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @01:48PM (#24285076)
There's no talk of "choice" when, as you admit it, the choice is between near-slavery or death.
Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by wpurvis on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @02:11PM (#24285373)
Exactly. Work or die isn't a choice, its a threat.
Re:Melancholy of obsolete futures: on Soviet Brutalism by gridlockd on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @02:03PM (#24285266)
I don't admit that.

However, even if that was the situation, "death" is strictly worse than "near-slavery", so you're still contributing to the lesser of two evils.