Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis

This book started on a positive note but you can hear a lot of conspiracy theories in the background of this content. The idea of richest families or the biggest companies running the world is an old theory and never sticks.

Of course, big tech companies are very big and have so much information about people which can be used in various ways to influence a larger population but in the end these companies have their own demons to hunt. Their prime motive is to make more money. And to serve this purpose they serve a lot of masters. Not just the buyers or advertisers from a brand but for them anyone with money is a client.

There has been more awareness about how big the companies can be, and the arguments in favor of taking stringent actions to rein in the irresponsible hunger for growth is growing bigger. These companies do take advantage of various loopholes in the system, and influence the policy makers to stay on their side but this is not something new. This has been always the case with big be it power, people or companies.

The solution proposed in the end doesn't sound very practical and it is demeaning to call the individual users of the products from these companies as surf.

Peace

Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken

The food is still a problem. Some countries are suffering with shortage of it and others excess. This excess of food has been driven by a lot of innovation in food industry which is more focused on selling more. The food products which are advertised based on which user segment it targets. Nothing wrong in that because that is how the advertising works but there is also a motive of making it more appealing for the other reasons apart from its nutritional value.

This led to adding different chemicals, and processes which was introduced largely for three reasons - to increase the shelf life, bring the texture/taste by lab produced chemicals and second to make the production process scalable. A novel commercial idea was pushed into the market which created incorrect eating patterns and habits in the vast population. Preparing a meal was replaced by a ready to eat food, colas, drinks and what not.

Preparing a meal is still a challenge for a lot of people and the factors vary from lack of time/skills to availability of easy options of buying your food of the shelf. It is not possible to dictate what one should eat but eventually people will have to become more conscious of their consumption, and there need to be a more robust mechanism in place for food testing and approval. Both of them are not good but this is already starting in a lot of places, and expected to grow for the larger good.

Peace