Loading…
Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus
In *Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus*, Douglas Rushkoff uses the 2013 protests against Google’s San Francisco shuttles as a vivid opening to unpack the failures of growth-obsessed capitalism. He reveals how the digital economy, once poised to democratize value distribution, has been hijacked by Wall Street to fuel speculative expansion—spawning platform monopolies, widening wealth gaps, and treating workers and local communities as disposable assets. Rushkoff dismantles the myth that endless growth is an inevitable economic law, tracing its origins to centuries-old extractive business models. He presents actionable, people-centered alternatives: shorter workweeks tied to productivity gains, worker-owned enterprises, universal basic income, and distributed economic systems that prioritize human needs over shareholder profits. Drawing on real-world examples from Utah’s 4-day workweek to Brazil’s LETS community currency system, the book makes a compelling case for reimagining capitalism to serve people, not just perpetual, hollow expansion.
Understand the Book
Choose how you want to explore this book.
Explore with AI
Ask about the book's ideas and how they relate to your life.