This revolution will not be televised

In the midst of America's colonization, the world was seeing the fruits of capitalism elsewhere. On the world stage, Europe was announcing itself as a financial and technological powerhouse. Let's call it the first wave of capitalism. With capitalism's first wave, came its own educational system. The education system they introduced at that time was the only way to work in a multinational company. To bring an end to the first wave of capitalism, humanity had to shed a lot of blood for many years. It took two world wars before the USA became the symbol of capitalism.

We are witnessing the second wave of capitalism due to the rise of Big Tech. Big Tech companies (or FAANG) such as Apple and Google no longer require a Bachelor's degree. Amazon, Google, and Microsoft each have their own certifications.

Launching FBA has enabled Amazon to provide goods and services worldwide. Program participants can become part of international trade no matter where they live, not just from the US. If the tweet is any indication, public trust is higher in delivery services than in all the king's horses combined.

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp (all of them owned by Facebook) providing completely different types of business opportunities to the masses. Opportunities that do not require degrees from the archives of the old capitalist education system.

Not to mention Uber, currently operating in about 70 economies. Uber has enabled the common man to become a productive member of society without having a degree.

Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp (all owned by Facebook) all provide completely different types of business opportunities. Alternative opportunities that don't require degrees provided by the old capitalist education system.

Not to mention Uber, which operates in about 70 countries. Uber has made it possible for the average person to become a productive member of society without holding a degree.

With Microsoft joining the open-source movement and a few unicorns (Zapier) that operate from a remote location, I think it is only a matter of time before most businesses are no longer restricted by the requirements of an office.

AT&T has recently announced that it will move non-network workloads to Microsoft Azure by 2024. US Department of Defense also chose to go with Microsoft. In addition to these, Businesses across the globe are either adopting services provided by these companies or hosting their business-critical applications with these cloud providers (AWS, GCP or Ali Baba) to reduce their non-essential costs. Certifications provided by these cloud providers bypass the degree requirements, again for the masses to make a living without having degrees.

Then we have Google and Apple with their phones, operating systems and app stores, creating altogether a new opportunity that does not require masses to hold a degree.

All these new markets and opportunities being created at blitz-scale require an internet connection fast enough to stream videos from certified and non-certified courses. Anyone can learn anything and make themselves a productive member of society.

If Covid-19 has done anything, it has accelerated the consolidation of power by these Big Tech i.e. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft.

The USA, in the past, has seen such dominance before in new unregulated markets e.g. Standard Oil or Bell Labs. The USA has dealt with them by splitting these companies.

This time around though, everyday life is being dominated by a tiny screen that fits in the back pocket of your jeans.

This time around though, the market is global and there are Chinese companies like Ali Baba and Baidu. Chinese companies that are catering for one-sixth of the world population directly and almost the rest of the world indirectly. Applying the fate of Bell Labs or Standard Oil would effectively give Chinese companies time and with the capital behind them they should be able to mark their presence globally.

This time around though, these companies can make the President of civilization's most powerful nation, completely disappear from everyday lives.

This time around though, these companies have the power to suppress dissent and control the flow of information as they see fit.

Interesting times we live in. The revolution will not be televised.

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