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Value capture is a process by which we begin with rich and subtle values, encounter simplified versions of them in the social wild, and revise our values in the direction of simplicity—thus rendering them inadequate. This kind of process is always a possible result of social interaction, but the distortions to our values are sharpest in social systems and environments where this simplicity is built into the structures of reward and punishment. Capitalism itself is such a system: it rewards the relentless and single-minded pursuit of profit and growth—extremely narrow value systems that exclude much of what makes life worth living. But societies organized around fundamentalisms (whether religious or secular) and war have resulted in similarly warped value systems long before capitalism arrived on the scene. In real life, the value capture process is sometimes deliberately managed by elites to manipulate and control others with game design-like tactics. Gig economy platforms like Uber and Lyft use “badges” and rating systems to manage the decision-making environment of their driver employees. Even outside of work, social media features such as likes, shares, and retweets play the role of points in games. Over time, these simple metrics threaten to distort or take the place of values (say, the wish to meaningfully contribute to discussion or to take pride in the quality of one’s work) that might otherwise have inflected our behavior on these platforms.

— Elite Capture by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Much like the mythical market, mythical liberal democracy is supposed to be self-correcting and self-justifying by definition. This way of casting the conversation about power and governance has been integral to the framing that links “freedom” and “capitalism” in the ideals and practices of liberal democracy: a country’s freedom need only be found at its ballot boxes rather than in, say, its workplaces.

— Elite Capture by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò

Du må bli et menneske som feirer din egen bursdag.

Du må selv ta kontrollen.

Ambivalente mennesker orker ikke å feire bursdag. Du vet sikkert ikke engang hva «ambivalent» betyr, men det er mennesker som egentlig har lyst til å feire bursdag, men så orker de ikke. De orker ikke tanken på å sende ut invitasjoner, for kanskje A sier nei, og hvis man inviterer B, så burde man også invitere C, og kanskje D ikke går overens med E og F, og kanskje ingen gidder å komme. Derfor dropper ambivalente mennesker bursdagsfeiringen. De er patetiske. De orker ikke se bursdagsgjestene i øynene og innse at ja, det er dette som er menneskene i mitt liv, for den erkjennelsen er smertefull, men jeg vil at du skal tåle den smerten.

Du må la bursdagsfeiringens konfronterende smerte gjennomstrømme deg.

Du må selv sende ut invitasjonene i engstelig forventning.

Du må tenne dine egne lys.

Du må væte din egen bløtkakebunn og kjevle ditt eget marsipanlokk. Poenget er ikke å gjøre deg til konditor. Jeg sier dette for å vekke deg.

— Nachspielet til Lippmann etter juleballet på Midtstuen skole, 1998 by Jonas Hansen Meyer