The war of the attention economy

In the past, there were many ideological battles but when it came down to it, it was all pretty much about land, resources and of course, tax payers. Perhaps people don't often think about the people captured by land grabs but, Kings and Queens would go to war to expand their territories and by doing so, increase the tax paying population. It is kind of like getting paid residuals for the wars. For the most part though, the land grabs of the past are largely over but are the wars?

There is often the claim that many of the wars are actually over resources and oil tends to be a common one that comes to mind but, is this true? It is hard to say and I am having trouble finding precise numbers but, oil may only be the third largest industry in the world, however, what are the two above it?

Well, number one is pretty obvious considering that there is one thing that everyone needs and most spend more on it than oil for their car and that is, food. Add to this retail shopping and it is an absolutely massive industry that dwarfs the oil industry. It is no surprise, we are consumers after all. Interesting though, the second largest industry in the world seems to be a bit of a surprise, alcohol.

Yep, drinking is big business and just think, according to a report in 2009, the top 10 companies control 66% of the global market and with all of the mergers and acquisitions over the last decade, I would say they have expanded their market share since then. Are the largest two industries in the world worth going to war for?

I don't know, but it is interesting to consider in this day and age where borders (despite the news) are becoming largely irrelevant, especially concerning the consumer markets. For all intents and purposes, the barriers between countries largely do not exist when it comes to the majority of products and of course, most information.

When it comes to information, we can see how much companies will change in order to comply with restrictive governments and privacy issues in order to get into places like China. The information gathered is mostly not to create dossiers on us for the governments, it is to create them for the corporations so that they can better target, segment and increase sales. The government sales are a bonus or perhaps, the price of access to the market itself. When it comes to making money, something needs to be sold and, we are it.

Perhaps this is really what the political battles are about, the Kings and Queens of old are no longer engaging in border skirmishes, they are manipulating the people in order to increase sales, convince people to buy this over that. Indirectly of course... mostly. However, each side tends to champion certain industries over others which likely comes down to, who lobbied the hardest, who offers the largest kickbacks.

Wars are over resources but, the resources are increasingly becoming us, not gold mines and oil reserves. It is us as consumers who will buy and have our information mined so that it can be traded. That is the driving force behind the scenes. All wars are just of economy of one sort or another and we are now in an age where what were invisible lines in the sand to mark country borders are being replaced by the invisible lines between market segments.

Even the reporting of war has been turned into a business model to monetize and expand market segments. And the ratings wars are viscous with each media conglomerate in a race to the top while their quality and objectivity is in a reflected race to the bottom.

What I find the most interesting about the possibility is that the process itself tends to make us blind to it, the drive of consumerism, the development of its products and the churn of the lifecycle means we are largely becoming oblivious to the crush. In the past when a government would raise taxes, there would be protests in the street but, increasing consumerism has an identical effect with barely a word said. Rather than increased taxes pushing us into a crushing debt cycle, it is our endless thirst for new products that does it and all they have to do is advertise a new must have item.

Not only that, the most important factor with this particular process is that unlike taxes that we are forced to pay, when it comes to consumption, we willingly pay. It is a buy-in process. The more we consume, the less pressure put on the need for direct taxes (loss of jobs through automation hints at this) until perhaps the point we are just consumers with no more needs to satisfy than that of our desires. We will not have jobs so, there will be no need for schools and all of the services we do need will be monetized, tokenized most likely. The governments as middlemen vehicles for banks and corporations can be cut away and we can deal with the real authorities directly.

Is there a way out or is our future one to be continually herded and corralled to forever being cash cows for an elite group to control through the products and services they offer or, don't offer as the case is likely to become. There are wars going on for our resources by targeting our attention and perhaps by design, it is a cold war where the propaganda is the advertising and the threats the law suits. At what point does it become open warfare? Will we realize when it happens or, is that already happening. It is hard to tell considering our attention is pulled conveniently elsewhere to be entertained in any number of ways.

Here, have another drink.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]