As Amazon becomes the latest platform to push an ad-supported tier, TV writers greet this retro model with frustration and, in some cases, disdain: “I thought 'Nine Perfect Strangers' with commercials was horrible,” says David E. Kelley of his Hulu show with breaks.
The point everyone is making is that this, along with everything else we have the “choice” to consume, is all a greater trend. I’m sure you’ve heard the word “enshittification,” well it was the word of the year and it’s on everyone’s lips for a reason.
Things are getting worse but the price keeps going up. This has long been a trend, called many names, from “shrinkflation” to “enshittification” to “planned obsolescence.” For decades this has been happening. Products aren’t built to last, companies aren’t competing for quality and customer satisfaction. The price goes up across the board, but everyone is making cheaper products. We’re just being squeezed harder because people have less money to spend. And people are tired of this process. We are the only ones paying. There is an imbalance in the way capitalism is running—and those anti capitalists among us will point out this has always been inevitable…but that’s another story. Operating under the assumption that capitalism is the system we are clinging to:
The tipping point for all of this is that corporate profits have been at record highs. Stock buybacks and rising CEO pay and out of control inequality. It’s all part of the same problem: we aren’t the “consumers” as such in this late stage capitalist world. We are being squeezed harder and harder across the board, our paychecks dwindle in buying power…the answer to this isn’t “well, stop paying for Netflix.”
People are pissed because this is one small kernel of the larger problem. We are products and we are the sacrificial lambs for the almighty stock price. We aren’t catered to as an integral part of the capitalist system. We are pushed further and further down to make space for record profits.
They take away account sharing, then they raise the price, then they lay off workers, then they force ads in our face…and then report how well they’re doing. It’s not just about Netflix, it’s not just about ads. It’s about everything. Our very apparent place in this system. We are an integral part of their capitalist system. But we’re treated like fodder. It kind of should piss you off.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏✊ Thank you for taking the time to write all that.