Honestly, with a) hugely overpriced ever increasing rent and b) hugely underpaid renters (for big chunk of population), c) hugely rigged home ownership racket now inaccessible to most, d) the enormous value of rental income to big landlords (a cousin with a bunch of buildings he inherited purchased long ago makes $2mil+ a year), and e) the engineering of all of the above by the cabal* , I think it's definitely worth medals and rewards and cash back, or, say, one-month-free for any renter being able to put together rent money every month, let alone on time. The data sharing should never be part of it, though.
*"When, through process of law, the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and easily governed— through the influence of the strong arm of government— applied by a central power of imperial wealth under the control of leading financiers. **A people without homes will not quarrel with their rulers.**"
A dispatch from Wall Street quoted in Chicago Daily Press dated March 21, 1892, as reported in Imperialism In America: It’s Rise and Progress, Sarah E. V. Emery, 1893, p 72.
So, my guess on this Bilt rent paying app, is its business model is 1) data collection 2) arbitrage of funds in/out +time and 3) Fee collected on each transaction.
Age 52, I see that my “privileged” suburban GenX was infantalized, just like our school teachers accused us of being coddled, spoon fed, & not knowing how to do anything real.
I’m old enough, now, to take stock of the long term consequences, to me personally & to society collectively, of this 1st infantalized US generation, my GenX.
And as the internet has recently caught me up to speed with cultural developments ever since 1990, when I turned off the tv & dropped out of mainstream society, I realize how much more infantalized the Millennials & GenZ are than was my GenX.
I think it comes down to the old adage of "You can catch a lot more flies with sugar than with vinegar."
It is cheaper to give a few random perks than it is to pay for debt collection and eviction procedures.
The whole addiction to smart phones is mostly generational. I remember having teachers who derided the use of computers. Calculators were expressly forbidden. I had teachers who would not accept anything written on a computer, believing that it was inferior. I beat them at that game and bought a daisy wheel printer that was indistinguishable from a typewriter.
Yes, some skills were lost. They were replaced with other skills. We exchanged knowing how to hitch up a wagon for knowing how to change a tire and operate cars. Being able to set the timing on an engine was replaced with knowing how to operate diagnostic tools on engine control units.
Computers are tools. They have no intrinsic morality. They can be used for good or evil.
My insurance company has offered free smart devices for home monitoring. They have offered a reduction in my auto insurance rates in exchange for monitoring my driving habits. I didn't even consider them. I didn't feel that it was a fair exchange for my privacy.
It is a lot tougher where there is an imbalance of power in the relationship. Activity monitors on computers, video surveillance, tracking devices on vehicles, electronic access keys, biometrics, and such. It is going to take time until we come to grips with what we allow to be done with the data that is collected.
It will have to be decided legally and not just left up to the discretion of companies who have no regard for the intrusiveness and who are able to change the terms of service unilaterally without any option to negotiate. It is even tougher when the government uses these tools.
For myself, I opt out from as much as possible. Even though I don't have a smartphone, I don't carry my cell phone with me unless I have an express reason. I don't even answer it unless it is a known caller that I want to talk to. If I want to carry it for my convenience, I have a power button and can just turn it off unless I want to use it. It has a really nice system to take messages and save text messages while it is off. It is still a huge improvement over a landline telephone.
Maybe I miss out by not having a store app to claim a discount or reward program. I really don't care. There are some advantages. I don't mind if I am going to make a purchase that will trigger a text from my credit union to authorize to prevent fraud. I don't mind 2-factor authentication done through my phone. I make sure to do things that require it during business hours so I can call and handle things personally if there are problems.
Like it or not, the new tools that we have available are not going away. It also takes education to learn to navigate them. If people don't bother to learn, that's on them.
Why can't a contract just be a contract? Why does everything have to be a transactional “relationship"? Are we going to start offering bonus points just for showing up to work? Or reward perks for getting your tasks done on time? Isn't the perk not getting fired?
Taken to the extreme, should we be given points for being law-abiding citizens and staying out of jail? The 'end game' — if you want to take it to the extreme — is actually social credit. That's the point of this article. That's where we land by normalizing this.
Every generation faces its challenge. Younger generations are working within a challenging economy. And? Sure beats fighting and dying in trenches, or spraying Agent Orange from airplanes. Pandering to the needs of the entitled, coddled by rewards on rent payments (for example), doesn’t fix that. And normalizing 'perks for everything' just allows the nudge economy to be nicely disguised as a shiny distraction. See social credit, above.
You’re right about one thing, though — critical thinking is hard. Gold star for you, John!
Honestly, with a) hugely overpriced ever increasing rent and b) hugely underpaid renters (for big chunk of population), c) hugely rigged home ownership racket now inaccessible to most, d) the enormous value of rental income to big landlords (a cousin with a bunch of buildings he inherited purchased long ago makes $2mil+ a year), and e) the engineering of all of the above by the cabal* , I think it's definitely worth medals and rewards and cash back, or, say, one-month-free for any renter being able to put together rent money every month, let alone on time. The data sharing should never be part of it, though.
*"When, through process of law, the common people have lost their homes, they will be more tractable and easily governed— through the influence of the strong arm of government— applied by a central power of imperial wealth under the control of leading financiers. **A people without homes will not quarrel with their rulers.**"
https://archive.org/details/ImperialismInAmerica/page/n3/mode/2up
A dispatch from Wall Street quoted in Chicago Daily Press dated March 21, 1892, as reported in Imperialism In America: It’s Rise and Progress, Sarah E. V. Emery, 1893, p 72.
So, my guess on this Bilt rent paying app, is its business model is 1) data collection 2) arbitrage of funds in/out +time and 3) Fee collected on each transaction.
Age 52, I see that my “privileged” suburban GenX was infantalized, just like our school teachers accused us of being coddled, spoon fed, & not knowing how to do anything real.
I’m old enough, now, to take stock of the long term consequences, to me personally & to society collectively, of this 1st infantalized US generation, my GenX.
And as the internet has recently caught me up to speed with cultural developments ever since 1990, when I turned off the tv & dropped out of mainstream society, I realize how much more infantalized the Millennials & GenZ are than was my GenX.
So, I’m worried about that.
How do I collect my reward points for reading CL???? :P
I think it comes down to the old adage of "You can catch a lot more flies with sugar than with vinegar."
It is cheaper to give a few random perks than it is to pay for debt collection and eviction procedures.
The whole addiction to smart phones is mostly generational. I remember having teachers who derided the use of computers. Calculators were expressly forbidden. I had teachers who would not accept anything written on a computer, believing that it was inferior. I beat them at that game and bought a daisy wheel printer that was indistinguishable from a typewriter.
Yes, some skills were lost. They were replaced with other skills. We exchanged knowing how to hitch up a wagon for knowing how to change a tire and operate cars. Being able to set the timing on an engine was replaced with knowing how to operate diagnostic tools on engine control units.
Computers are tools. They have no intrinsic morality. They can be used for good or evil.
My insurance company has offered free smart devices for home monitoring. They have offered a reduction in my auto insurance rates in exchange for monitoring my driving habits. I didn't even consider them. I didn't feel that it was a fair exchange for my privacy.
It is a lot tougher where there is an imbalance of power in the relationship. Activity monitors on computers, video surveillance, tracking devices on vehicles, electronic access keys, biometrics, and such. It is going to take time until we come to grips with what we allow to be done with the data that is collected.
It will have to be decided legally and not just left up to the discretion of companies who have no regard for the intrusiveness and who are able to change the terms of service unilaterally without any option to negotiate. It is even tougher when the government uses these tools.
For myself, I opt out from as much as possible. Even though I don't have a smartphone, I don't carry my cell phone with me unless I have an express reason. I don't even answer it unless it is a known caller that I want to talk to. If I want to carry it for my convenience, I have a power button and can just turn it off unless I want to use it. It has a really nice system to take messages and save text messages while it is off. It is still a huge improvement over a landline telephone.
Maybe I miss out by not having a store app to claim a discount or reward program. I really don't care. There are some advantages. I don't mind if I am going to make a purchase that will trigger a text from my credit union to authorize to prevent fraud. I don't mind 2-factor authentication done through my phone. I make sure to do things that require it during business hours so I can call and handle things personally if there are problems.
Like it or not, the new tools that we have available are not going away. It also takes education to learn to navigate them. If people don't bother to learn, that's on them.
Why can't a contract just be a contract? Why does everything have to be a transactional “relationship"? Are we going to start offering bonus points just for showing up to work? Or reward perks for getting your tasks done on time? Isn't the perk not getting fired?
Taken to the extreme, should we be given points for being law-abiding citizens and staying out of jail? The 'end game' — if you want to take it to the extreme — is actually social credit. That's the point of this article. That's where we land by normalizing this.
Every generation faces its challenge. Younger generations are working within a challenging economy. And? Sure beats fighting and dying in trenches, or spraying Agent Orange from airplanes. Pandering to the needs of the entitled, coddled by rewards on rent payments (for example), doesn’t fix that. And normalizing 'perks for everything' just allows the nudge economy to be nicely disguised as a shiny distraction. See social credit, above.
You’re right about one thing, though — critical thinking is hard. Gold star for you, John!