Global capitalism begins with apparel. Slaves were brought to the American South from West Africa to do farm labor, and by the 19th century that largely meant cotton, a ubiquitous puffball that is easy to grow and aggravating to harvest. Seeds would be removed with a cotton gin, and the bulk of the puff would be sent to England, where it was turned into thread by gigantic steam-powered looms, woven together, and sewed into mass-produced coats, shirts, and pants.
In writer / director Julian Glander's new animated sci-fi feature Boys Go to Jupiter, a young gig worker named Billy 5000 ( Planet Money's Jack Corbett) hoverboards his way through life in Florida with only one thing on his mind: he needs $5,000 and is willing to deliver as much food as it takes to make the cash. At first, the delivery guy's semi-magical, "let's get this bread" style of thinking seems to stem from his fixation on a hustlebro streamer's videos.
"Over the last couple of years, we've actually been removing labor from the stores, I think with the hope that equipment could offset the removal of the labor... That wasn't an accurate assumption."
