Idea Name
Context / Source
url: https://doctorow.medium.com/direct-the-problem-of-middlemen-a3651c62a207 Tweet url:
Key Idea
There’s a reason organized crime has always been so interested in middleman roles, like stocking jukeboxes and vending machines. When you sit in the middle of a supply chain, you are free to steal from both the suppliers and customers who rely on you, in a way that is hard — if not impossible — to detect.
Note: Accurate and savage
Judge operationalizes this insight, producing both a philosophical hymn to the “problems” of disintermediation — the joys of going direct, even if it means losing some convenience or access to low prices. Citing both her own experience and empirical research, Judge convincingly argues that the longer shipping times, extra effort, and other hassles of going direct are more than offset by the delights of going direct to suppliers, whether that’s buying on Etsy or from your local Community Supported Agriculture farm.
Note: Yes please we want more of this for us
Beyond that, Judge offers specific checklists of advice for us as members of our communities and people of our world — rules of thumb like seeking out shorter supply chains, going direct when possible (but not when it’s impossible), using the fees skimmed by each layer of middlemen as a measure of how important it is to watch what they’re doing (and get rid of them, if possible), and find ways to build direct, non-market, personal relations with others.
Note: This is great too- go to the source