alt Hacker NewsExternalities are positive if you benefit from them, and they are negative if you are paying for them.
In my circles we actually never use this word because it is basically just a fancy way to say exploitation that makes capitalists feel good about them selves.
Replies
AdamN • yesterday at 3:15 PM
If I had said 'exploitation' there would not have been engagement. At some point certain words and phrases become too much of a lightning rod to constructively use any more (Marxism, critical race theory, exploitation, etc...)
The positive and negative aspects can be different for different participants for the same externality. Externality literally just means impacts not captured in the transaction.
Exploitation is orthogonal. You can have internal or external value exchange that is exploitative. You can even have positive sum transactions that are exploitative.
It must be exhausting having conversations in your circles if you change the definition of all the words…