Valve seems like a nice enough place to work. But, I agree that much of GabeN’s wealth would not have accumulated without (a) Labor exploitation in the Game Development Industry in general and (b) Consumer exploitation through DRM and the DMCA.
GabeN (and, e.g., TSwift) might not have directly, intentionally engaged in exploitation, but they have benefited from systems that institutionalize exploitation. (Sometimes, when the mask slips, people supporting those systems will claim the systems can’t be profitable without the exploitation, in an attempt to justify the exploitation as a necessary “sacrifice” to Profit.)
Assuming everyone from certain class is a fraud is like a new type of racism…
There is literally no ethical way to amass a billion dollars. Every single billionaire’s wealth involved exploitation to accrue, without exception.
Without. Exception.
Valve seems like a nice enough place to work. But, I agree that much of GabeN’s wealth would not have accumulated without (a) Labor exploitation in the Game Development Industry in general and (b) Consumer exploitation through DRM and the DMCA.
GabeN (and, e.g., TSwift) might not have directly, intentionally engaged in exploitation, but they have benefited from systems that institutionalize exploitation. (Sometimes, when the mask slips, people supporting those systems will claim the systems can’t be profitable without the exploitation, in an attempt to justify the exploitation as a necessary “sacrifice” to Profit.)
No, Capital has always been a criminal class, since Marx.
Even Smith identified rent-seeking behavior as the primary enemy of free markets.
At worst, “assuming everyone from a certain class is a fraud” could be considered a type of kink shaming. Where the kink is hoarding resources.