Peer2Politics

In recent years, the collaborative economy has been growing exponentially , reaching a stage of co-dependency with the emerging new forms of the for-profit economy, which we have described in our recent book, ‘Network Society and Four Scenarios for the Collaborative Economy‘. The new ‘netarchical’ (= net-archy, the hierachy of the network) form of capital, is no longer investing in its own production through the hiring of labour, and making products that it sells on the market, but, as Google, Facebook and other platform owners show, is directly capturing profits from the free cooperation and contributions of the 99%. While it may seem a good thing for users that platforms are being built ‘for free’, or that buyers an sellers can directly connect with each other for a fee, it is also very problematic as it creates a deep value crisis, not just for the increasingly precarious workforce, but also for capitalism itself. Indeed, how can we imagine a successful capitalism, that produces products that it can no longer sell, because an increasing number of contributors are no longer paid for their value creation ? Thus today, after an increasing exodus of especially young people out of the system of paid labor for capital, the social tensions are not just between salaried labor and capital, but increasingly, between peer producers and netarchical platform owners.

“Bittunes is about empowering the end-user. It is about monetization of digital exchange between peers. As this is something which is impossible with traditional currencies, bitcoin was the perfect solution. I had the pleasure of meeting Simon Edhouse, Bittunes’ CEO, in Bitcoin Singapore 2013, and I fell in-love with his project. To use his words, ‘one thing is certain, everything has changed’. Simon has developed a fantastic platform that will allow independent artists to self publish their music, and by empowering their fans, empower themselves. I see great future to Bittunes, and I wish Simon and his family all the best for 2014 and beyond. I had the pleasure of recording an extremely insightful interview with Simon, I hope you enjoy. Follow @SimonEdhouse”