Can’t Tell By No Handshake

Can social justice organizations morally use technology systems that operate within the current American capitalist structure?

These technology systems are not here to change the world for the better in the same way that social justice organizations are here for this. The companies that run them can have grand visions, they can give a lot of philanthropic money, they can partner with social justice organizations and they can build tools that are “for the nonprofit sector.” But they will never live out the same core values as a nonprofit or social justice organization**. These companies will always put profit over everything else. Their tools and their decisions will always be a reflection of that.

This hasn’t stopped nonprofits and social justice organizations from using these tools to do their work for a lot of good. These tools are amazing. And staff members are amazing. Even when technology companies change their pricing, their data models, their technology stacks, their tech structure, how they offer support, etc. - nonprofit staff members and their partners find ways to roll with it and keep on doing their good work. Not just that, we improve. We learn. We think outside of the structures and get done what we need to get done.

So the problem is, we are also giving our money to these companies. Is that moral? Is that ok?

It’s complicated. There isn’t a yes or no answer here. So don’t let this topic bring you away from the work. Use the tools built within the capitalist structure and find ways to change the capitalist structures at the same time. Become the CEO of the company and make it into a B Corp. Get your friends together, get on the board, take it over, and let everyone know that profit might go down (and then up, and then down, etc etc - normal for businesses outside of the capitalist structures of right now). Or we can stop giving our money to the companies and our funders and supporters will need to step up and pay the cost of doing this work in other ways, with other tools.

But there is something very uncomplicated that everyone can do to better understand capitalist structure and responses. In fact, this is required listening for anyone in the struggle. Be able to recognize references to (and be able to reference yourself) any song on the Dead Prez album Revolutionary But Gangsta.

**Except for a short list of companies like https://www.humancenteredapps.com/