Another Now

What Hacker News says

1. mmustapicApr 2025
   Almost any Kim Stanley Robinson novel. In Pacific Edge he explicitly mentions he doesn’t want to write about utopia, he wants to describe the path, the struggle.

   Also, “Another Now” by Yanis Varoufakis is very explicit in a path to a better future.

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2. ly3xqhl8g9Feb 2023
   I could agree in principle on the volume argument, perhaps after looking over some economic models. However, a big part of the USD stability in the past 78+ years stems from the causation chains which make the following fact possible: the US Navy is the second air force in the world [1]. In order to believe in the stability of BTC, I must ask the stalinist question: "how many divisions has Satoshi?" [2]. It is a sad reality but might will make right in this silly world of ours for the foreseeable future. Now that's an invariant which I would have loved to see cryptocurrencies tackle, but they seem to have no interest in this, it's more of a changing of the guard ceremony, this crypto-fiat dance.

   Coming to your question, to regulate or not to regulate [3]. I come from the very far left field (pun intended). The most different approach that I've seen recently, one which could maybe move the world in a significant way, is the financo-fiction detailed in Yanis Varoufakis' Another Now [4]. One of the more radical proposals from the book is that the persons starting a company should have only one share each: more of a library card system than a market. In another presentation, Varoufakis says something along the lines: compounding interest becomes a tool of exploitation when the poor are forced to borrow more and more from the rich which only get richer. Therefore, no, I am against the status quo as much as you can get, and although I am not an optimist, I believe it is up to us to decide in what kind of world we want to live and what kind of future we want to nurture.

   [1] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-a...

   [2] https://wordhistories.net/2019/08/23/how-many-divisions-pope...

   [3] I asked ChatGPT to make a poem starting from Shakespeare's verse:

       "To regulate or not to regulate, that is the question asked,
       Whether 'tis nobler in the realm of finance to keep markets free,
       Or to take action against the sea of risks and save us from a crash.
       The pitfalls of speculation oft bring economic pain,
       Should we not protect, regulate, and keep it in check to gain?
       The choice is ours, the consequences dire,
       Let us ponder, deliberate and make a wise decision, not retire."
   

   [4] Varoufakis presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJKHWrs4h5w, in depth explanation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfvR0lwP4Q
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3. vladharbuzAug 2022
   Why do you assume the only options are being controlled by a different self-serving employer, or having the government regulate everything? After all, shouldn't those who actually form the workforce of a company and shape the products and services it offers be in control? Why not have those who actually do the work collectively control the fate of the company, instead of having to hand over that power to someone else?

   Resource 1 by me: https://vladh.net/alternatives-to-wage-labour

   Resource 2 by Yanis Varoufakis: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49098225-another-now

   More resources: https://vladh.net/wage-labour-resources

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4. sdoeringApr 2021
   No I know were the idea in Yannis Varoufakis' new books "Another Now" originated. Or were he proposed it as he is part of DiEM25.

   Actually quite some interesting thoughts within this book.

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5. LesZedCBNov 2023
   in the original article.... I quote:

   >Towards the end of Technofeudalism, Varoufakis canvasses some proposals, drawn from his earlier book Another Now (2020), for how to address these issues. These include ending the cloudalists faux “free service” model and replacing it with a universal micro-payment model, instituting a Bill of Digital Rights, and using digital technology to “democratise companies” (with decisions being taken collectively by “employee-shareholders”)

   employee owned coops are a major socialist idea, and are a definitive step away from privately owned capital, toward collectively owned production by the employees (proletariat, if you will).

   so, yes. he does. in this article.

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6. curationJan 2023
   The concept of planet B is itself ideological. Climate change is a symptom of capitalism; which remains unchallenged. Why is it easier to imagine a zombie apocalypse than a different economic system. Varoufakis Another Now attempts this. Until we are able to imagine new economic structures our attempts to avoid "planet B" will continue to create new markets and that is it.
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