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I was having a discussion in the comments of the last blog I made and about how my comments regarding AI controlled corporations would end up with a system where the 1% that owned those corporations would benefit. Really I was more talking about a situation where the AIs them selves 'owned' the corporations and made programed decisions set in place for the good of human beings, and would naturally take over most human-run corporations by being better at the stock market. However, AI or not, the central criticism is more about capitalism as a whole really. That is, the rich 1% that own most of the means of production will never give up control of that means of production because they want to hold on to the maximum profits. But this isn't necessarily applicable anymore. The world closer to embracing a economic model where specialized skills and big ideas are much more valuable then industry and manufacturing and there are real tangible benefits to giving up total control. This is why, for example, we have organizations like the IEEE which work to hammer out standards and protocols. It has been shown time and time again that when companies like Microsoft and Apple attempt to enforce their own propitiatory way of doing things or when formats are constrained by use of patents like GIF or MP3 there is always backlash witch births a major open competitor (Such as Linux, Android, PNG, OGG). Of those only OGG hasn't seen that wide adoption even if it is well supported, though most of MP3's patents are kinda expiring anyway. Of course things still need to be made, but I think it's becoming much harder for people to matter in that field. The endless quest for efficiency in factories and mining operations have always marginalized the human element, and now with technology like 3D printers, small computers like the Raspberry Pi, and modular electronics like Modulo, the economy is moving more and more I think to one that favors individual creators and small flexible companies that can act without much of the large bureaucracy of a giant corporate system. We still have a long way to go of course before a total lack of dependence on operations, but it's becoming more and more feasible to just do stuff ourselves either online or in real life. Corporations still have a role of course, as do factories and industry, but it's not unfeasible that it won't last forever. Eventually everything will be automated, interconnected and decentralized, maybe one day we will all employ lots of cheep easy to make mining drones on asteroids, have self-replicating reprogrammable nanofactories, and so on. If we get into space, let alone the shaky possibility of warp travel, it's not far fetched to assume that instead of a grand unified empire, it will be a scattered collection of people homesteading with high technology. That future may be far off, but we are making slow steady steps in that direction. In the meantime, it's understandable to not trust capitalism, or at least not the kind of 'crony capitalism' so often seen in the world today. Even in the best case there are still many many people who can not meaningfully contribute to this new kind of economy for various reasons and will get left behind. The backlash over globalism is as much a reaction to that as it is anything else. But I honestly don't think those jobs are coming back. The middle-class blue collar worker just isn't as relevant anymore, and I doubt it will be again. But I still feel leaning to socialism isn't the answer either, or if it is it needs to be a drastically different kind of socialism then most people are used to. The idea of 'collective ownership' is a dubious one, but then again the idea of 'ownership' is pretty dubious to begin with. Socialism to me means that everything has to be centrally managed and controlled, and that involves some sort of state (which is often easily corrupted) running around deciding how to redistribute everything. Really my idea of AI owning corporations and most means of production is actually kinda socialist, but the only reason I even suggested it is because AI isn't human and doesn't necessarily have to have a concept of self interest and it's not actually simply taking and redistributing resources from humans. Still some socialism may be okay I guess. I was kinda a fan of Sanders, and I wish he was president instead of the clown we have now. But no use dwelling on what could have been, the more pressing question is what do we do now? I don't think the government is going to make things better any time soon, so maybe people outside it will? A lot of time and money has been invested in developing new technology to do all sorts of things, maybe we should all think about how to use it to make the world better for ourselves and everyone else instead of waiting for policy from above.

Hello Dear Readers, First off thank you for making my Blog interesting, with such insightful and compelling thoughts. As always, everyone is welcome to speak here and freely address their opinions. Remember, you are the reason I write, this is the virtual slate to write thy words, to voice thou perspective! ( yes, I do talk this way, and no, I am not old ). So down to business. I have always been a notable talker on various game communities and I enjoy our conversations! So now, simple question, what do you think about virtual reality gaming. It is obvious this is our industry's next step. Is it too soon, will the world enjoy diving their minds into unknown worlds? Also please know, I am very very passionate about games, I do not under any circumstances believe "games are just games", that phrase people use is invalid. This phrase only applies to board games, video games are much more sophisticated. These are worlds my friends, worlds, living worlds of various cultures, it's no longer just a game. It is life virtualized!

Okay imagine this. Out somewhere in the depths of space sometime in the distance future, a starship flies through the stars. It's brave crew are out way past the edge of known space, far far from home thanks to a mischievous god-like entity. You know how those rambunctious god-like entities can be, always playing around with mere mortals like that. There they find a mysterious sphere which seems to be covered in seemless white plastic of some sort. The fearless crew approach and scan it, As they do a few strange figures beem on to the bridge, they are human-like but they seem to have parts of themselves that are also covered in smooth white plastic, as if they are half human and half very sleek machine. All of the figures have cheery looks on their faces, and bow, one of them a cute looking girl speaks in a clipped cheery but artificial tune. "Hello visitors! I am a representative of the iBorg collective! And it is you and your species lucky day! We at iBorg are here to offer you and your species a free upgrade to our new iBorg G7 technology! With this new wonderful technology, you can..." She cuts off as the lights cut out and the view-screen turns on displaying a cheery and sleek marketing video to go with her speech. "Improve your body! Tired of dealing with the old meat sack you carry around? Why not augment it! Be free from all known disease and old age! And if something were to happen to you our back up software can upload you mind to the cloud to make you virtually immortal!" Improve your mind! Network with billions and billions of other iBorg systems to help your decision making and informational processing capabilities! Keep in contact with any iBorg, being able to send messages across a huge galactic network that is growing bigger every day! Explore a huge database of knowledge and amusements!" "Improve your society! No need for complex political systems and bureaucracy, just submit your need to the collective and the collective will work on it for you! No crime to worry about, and everyone get's 100% guaranteed job security! Every job will be uniquely created to suit the individual's skills and desires, guaranteeing 100% job satisfaction as well!" "Still not convinced? That's okay! We have no need to force new species to upgrade. We know that someday soon someone will choose to upgrade anyway. Even if you don't believe personally in our product, maybe someone who hears this pitch will, or peer pressure from other converted beings will convince you, or It may be the only way to save yourself or a sick or dying loved one. Eventually more and more members will upgrade and tell others about how great it is and become believers in the iBorg family." "We realize that our slow cultural assimilation of your species will cause some backlash, and we understand. We will of course guarantee protection for everyone who upgrades or even expresses interest! It is not a bad thing to desire the personal freedom to join us. We will of course retaliate if attacked, and we have vastly superior numbers and technology, but there is no need for such drastic measures! We are sure the free complementary upgrade to those that survive the retaliation will change our attacker's minds!" "We are iBorg! We are here to help you become part of our family! Yes, you will be assimilated and yes resistance is futile, but there is no reason to be sad about it! We at iBorg are committed to serving you!" What would you do? 1. Join the collective. 2. Resist to the last of your ability! 3. Just shoot yourself now... 4 . JAILBREAK YOUR UPGRADES!