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Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World

“A History of California, Capitalism, and the World”?  Even the review does tell us almost nothing about how much Malcolm Harris incorporates ‘the world’ in his book. “ Malcolm Harris’s new book shows how Californian capitalism has thrived by exploiting an unequal world.” Which world? the world from Mexico to China and from Congo to India? Not a world about how the title relates to this world. The review informs us that the book is about California and capitalism. Nick Burns: “Most glaring is the mismatch between the book’s stated purpose and its actual content.  For most of its 700 frustrating pages,  Palo Alto  refuses to be the very thing it insists that it is: a history of capitalism. A “fitting bookend to Harris’s opening, equally earnest assertion that Palo Alto is “haunted” not only by the spectre of communism but also by supernatural forces – hardly suits the sober realism that the book’s subject demands.”

Uber in England

The BBC way of reporting 45,000 Uber drivers in London. Not a word on Why there is so many unauthorised drivers, What the working conditions are, How many hours these drivers work Whether they are insured or not What the rate of exploitation of illegal drivers is How much profit the company makes ...
"The app-based platforms are convenient, and customers benefit from cheap rides. But why should venture-capitalists monopolise the platforms? The New Economics Foundation has called for the Mayor of London to  pioneer a mutually owned, public alternative to Uber . This would be an excellent start, and introducing a taxi platform to London’s labyrinthine, expensive public transport system would hardly be a huge addition." Uber Red