- capitalism replaced land with capital (money, factories, etc) as the primary source of production and wealth; *cloud capital* is now replacing that physical capital. - cloud capital is the hardware and software owned by digital platforms and tech monopolies. - it adds a third nature to the duality of capitalism: “a produced means of behavioral modification and individuated command” ([[Varoufakis, Yanis - 2023 - Technofeudalism|235]]). - [[cloudalists do not invest in the creation of new commodities]] → we’re granted access to enclosed digital spaces so they can [[{3.2b1c} big tech has become imperial and extractive|extract]] our attention. - it’s unique in its ability to [[cloud capital can reproduce itself in ways that involve no waged labor|reproduce itself without the need for waged labor]]. - gets its value from Content. - [[{3.2b1c1a} cloud serfs]] → create content for free. - **cloud proles** → waged workers who are being driven to optimization by devices and algorithms that have, in some sectors, taken over management roles. - **cloud fiefs** → “digital trading platforms on which buyers and sellers are matched by the algorithms of cloud capital” ([[Varoufakis, Yanis - 2023 - Technofeudalism|237]]) → e.g. amazon → not *markets* because buyers are isolated from each other and sellers are isolated from each other → reinforced by our training / reproduction of cloud capital (Content) → rented by *vassal capitalists*. - **vassal capitalists** → producers who pay to sell their commodities via *cloud fiefs* → payment is cloud rent to cloudalists’ cloud fiefs → cloudalists ultimately own the data and customers lists, determine their visibility, keep them siloed from customers, etc. >[!note]- major overhaul [[2026-08-03]] >consolidated several atomic notes about the individual terms. i link to them, but don’t see myself expanding on them substantially; moving to archive.