🧑‍🌾 Digital feudalism


Howdy,

I came across the term digital feudalism a few weeks ago and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a way some folks are describing our current digital economy where we are all powerless serfs, freely giving our data, attention and labor through content creation to digital platforms. Then, in exchange for all of our free labor, we’re given the opportunity to be advertised to through these same platforms. All along the way, enriching the platform owners.

It’s weird to navigate because when I think I am scrolling for fun, whether I intend to or not, I’m actually participating in the digital economy. And it’s getting increasingly difficult to opt out of it.

How do you feel about this concept of digital feudalism? Does being online feel like work or does it feel like leisure? It’s probably a toxic mix of both. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Don’t be shy; hit reply.

P.S. A friendly reminder that tax day for s-corps is on March 15, about a month away. Please be nice to your accountants (and yourselves) by getting them your financial reports and tax data well before then! And if you need help getting your bookkeeping and financial reports in order, please consider Hell Yeah, Bookkeeping.


1. 💸 How to Build a Million-Dollar Business with Rachel Rodgers (Weird Finance) In this episode of Weird Finance, Paco talks to Rachel Rodgers (@rachrodgersesq). Rachel shares her personal tale of going from lawyer to exhilarating business coach, emphasizing the significance of pursuing work that fuels your passion. They delve into the intriguing world of making bold business decisions for financial abundance, tackle the idea of "broke-ass decisions," and dissect the psychological hurdles that can impede financial growth.

2. 🤔Will I just keep spending more and more money forever? (Vox) How to cope with both inflation and lifestyle creep.

3. 🔊 It Will Never Be a Good Time to Buy a House (The Atlantic) Maybe in 2030?

4. 🤓 A bookkeeping thing - I spoke to someone who had been in business for almost ten years and they casually asked me what the point of bookkeeping was. I was shook, so here’s this from Ali the CFO: How to Understand Accounting.

5. 🖥️ Trying to Escape the Trap of Digital Productivity (Catapult) I felt sick with despair that I wasn’t out in the physical world, so I built a digital identity with the things I had to hand.

6. 🏎️ He’s Lost His Marriage, His Followers and His Lamborghini (New York Times) “Ben Armstrong, better known as BitBoy, was once the most popular cryptocurrency YouTuber in the world. Now his empire has collapsed.”

7. 🥤 How the Stanley Cup Went Viral (The New Yorker) “What might appear to be an organic phenomenon, though, is actually an engineered corporate crossover. Companies prepare carefully, and expensively, to cultivate their moments of ubiquity. They leverage our attention, the same way an influencer does, to convert online viewers into fans and customers.”

8. 🏢 Why American cities are squalid (Unherd) “I like to live here, but the reality is we are rapidly falling behind the rest of the world in liveability, especially when you adjust for our wealth. Our cities are being frozen in time by an absurd, centralised regulatory mindset, which sees human flourishing as dirty and unsafe, and seems determined to wring out the last drops of any soul from our urban spaces.”


@thehellyeahgroup


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Thanks for being part of the crew and reading this far. Peace.

The Nerdletter by Paco de Leon

Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.

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