The Question of Commerce

I am now writing about the various commercial endeavors that I undertake.  This will consist mainly of technical and procedural questions related to rsync.net, JohnCompanies and Trent (coming soon).

However, it will also consist of writing that explores deeper questions about commerce itself, and the various questions and conflicts that arise from creating and running these organizations.

What is the specific purpose of a business firm ? To what end should it be optimized for ? What are the activities properly suited to this end ? What lifecycle should such a firm describe ?

I am disturbed by the culture of consumption that pervades the developed world and the warped interactions that occur between producer and consumer. I would like to explore how currently accepted practices in production, sales and marketing, and customer support are often manipulative and degrading. I will discuss my efforts at avoiding this in the context of my own business firms.

I am also disturbed by the notion of a business firm as a social actor with anthropomorphic qualities like "conscience" and "duty", and I find it troubling that business firms participate in activities that are typically undertaken by human beings. It has long been my suspicion that these humanist, extra-commercial activities merely serve to balance the many dehumanizing effects of business firms. I would like to explore how a stricter conception of such firms would obviate the need for these extra-commercial activities by removing the dehumanizing effects they are balancing.

I will explore the position of commerce in the Platonic castes of society. Does commerce belong to the lowest conception, or class, of human activity ? Or are there only certain aspects of commerce that are degrading ? Further, the attitudes of various aristocracies toward work, commerce and money deserve some attention as one explores the forms that commerce should and should not take. What are the archetypes of commerce and to what degree should their purity be pursued in the 21st century ?

These writings on commerce in general will be filed under the "Commerce" category, whereas writings specific to a particular firm will be categorized under that firms name.

I look forward to interacting, via comments, on all of these topics with both my customers and the public at large.

 

Comments

[Telmo Menezes]

Hi John,

I am an happy user of rsync.net. I was attracted by several aspects of your service. One of them is the way you use open technologies to let me make my own choices. This alone makes your offering very powerful when compared to the alternatives. The other is your customer support: helpful, doesn't treat me like an idiot. What a contrast from the default corporate offerings.

It is very interesting to now realize that you share some of my philosophical concerns. More and more I tend to believe that we are arriving at a turning point in human History. Not driven by buzzwords like "swarm intelligence" or "web 2.0" or whatever the current thing is, but by an actual shift in the way people think and the kind of things they are willing to put up with.

[C. Riley]

As a very happy user of rsync.net, I'm intrigued by any new companies/services you will be offering. With that said, can you give any more info about what "Trent" will be?

[John Kozubik]

@C. Riley

Well, you know who Bob and Alice and Mallory are, right ?