• LordShrek@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    it is true that companies are here to make money. my question is: are there any institutions whose purpose is to benefit humanity, without any hidden maladaptive intent? even the “communicating important scientific work to the public” enterprise is corrupted by perverse incentives. and if not, what is the process by such an institution can come about?

    • filister@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      There is a lot of open source software, projects, ML/AI models, where individuals have put hundreds if not thousands of hours of work and are offering their work for free to other people.

      Then again we also have Linux and believe it or not, the world wouldn’t be the same without it. This OS has been created by one single individual who to this day didn’t want to monetize his creation, otherwise he would have been filthy rich by now.

    • vimdiesel@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I don’t, I find so many Marxists online who think via magical thinking the proletariat is just gonna rise up and be better than the status quo. China and USSR failed and are now hellscapes when it comes to liberty and human rights. We have compromises like those in the Scandinavian countries where it’s not perfect, but people generally have good health care, freedom, and generally a good standard of living. Those are the extremes in modern governments. I think the USA can do better, but we are much better off than Russians and Chinese, so far.