Jolly Roger

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Notes:  

doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2025-04-25-some-animals-are-more-equal-than-others-9acd84d46742

Efforts to organize and establish significant influence or power to sway the practices or agendas of tech companies, executives, and shareholders or protect or advocate for either workers or users have been largely in effective, in my opinion because we haven't experienced enough shared suffering to incur risk in advocating for others, despite many of us being willing to articulate serious reservations about practices across the industry from labor to supply chain to user trust to privacy to unethical behavior and practices from executives and the companies they work for. For that shift to occur, it may have to come from users pulling their data and participation from platforms, but as a (currently former) tech worker, I believe skilled workers like myself have much more power to influence and change the industry than we will allow ourselves to entertain simply because our positions, our salaries, our workplaces and benefits are just too comfortable to risk challenging the powers that be or saying "no" to working on something we don't agree with. In 2023, the tech industry laid off 260,000 workers. In 2024 it was over 130,000, mine among them. Not to worry, plenty of suffering coming to motivate us if we're not willing to do it ourselves.
www.npr.org/2024/01/28/1227326215/nearly-25-000-tech-workers-laid-off-in...
techcrunch.com/2024/12/02/tech-layoffs-2024-list/

MUTINEERS BAND TOGETHER!

Lyrics:  
its not our hope we've lost its just this albatross a starboard listing ship the crew have been dismissed I see your mirthless sneer come join as a mutineer distract tthe captain as you can he's coming for my head and I am not a piece of property I am not a resource for you to allocate once we said these dreams would light up the sky but tonight, only ox eyes in pale moonlight I resigned my command a burden I could not withstand its all division in throwing fists or restraint in such cowardice I heard the golden handcuffs fall as they tore my thumbs right off so I don't have much sympathy for a captain convinced he has no agency these people are not your property they are not resources for you to allocate once you said a subversive agenda would win the day but nowhere do I see your pirate flag let us not believe only leaders can make change lets bring responsibility and pride to the way we earn our wage they cannot sail these ships without skilled women and men mutineers band together, lets begin again we don't have to ask permission to raise a flag, to say our peice and quietly resist this song is not an answer it's a question for opening fists there is no allowed or forbidden each one of us must choose and stand for his or her best be wary of those offering answers its in the questions we must learn to live what was my part in this? what did I intend? what actually happened? and how do I live with it? do I believe in change? 8 billion hearts and minds are yearning to believe, wanting to be convinced. So with that in mind, tell me... do we exist?
Credits:  
An earlier version of this song was performed as "Opening Fists" by relative, with Brain Busenius
License:  
All rights reserved
Artist:  
Release date:  
December 7, 2024