The world has moved on. But it need not stay this way forever

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | Cory Doctorow

The National Customer Rage Survey of 2025 reveals a sharp rise in consumer anger and stress caused by the systemic decline in product and service quality across Western economies. This widespread platform decay, termed 'enshittification' by author Cory Doctorow, stems from corporate strategies that prioritize short-term shareholder profits over user satisfaction.

Historically, corporate monopolies were constrained by robust antitrust enforcement, which prevented firms from becoming too large to regulate. However, the systematic dismantling of consumer, environmental, and labor protection agencies has eroded these critical regulatory guardrails. Market outcomes now govern society. This shift enables modern monopolists to exploit users and workers alike, transforming market competition into a political crisis that cannot be resolved through consumer choices alone. Restoring the rule of law and antitrust enforcement remains essential to reclaiming a functional, equitable digital and physical infrastructure.

Comment

The consolidation of the United States defence industrial base mirrors the broader corporate enshittification described by Cory Doctorow. Since the 1993 "Last Supper" briefing by Deputy Secretary of Defense William Perry, the number of prime aerospace contractors shrank from over fifty to just five. This extreme concentration of market power allows firms like Lockheed Martin to dictate terms on major acquisition programmes. Consequently, the F-35 Lightning II programme suffers from persistent cost overruns and spare parts shortages because the proprietary software and maintenance rights remain monopolised by the manufacturer.

This monopolistic structure operates through intellectual property lock-ins that prevent US Air Force depots from performing basic repairs. By restricting access to technical data packages, prime contractors force the Defense Logistics Agency into sole-source, long-term sustainment contracts. This mechanism artificially inflates lifecycle costs while reducing the operational availability of critical platforms like the KC-46 Pegasus tanker.

Strategic Question for Discussion

If the intellectual property lock-ins on platforms like the KC-46 Pegasus tanker continue to restrict depot-level maintenance, how will the Defense Logistics Agency manage surge capacity during a high-intensity conflict in the Indo-Pacific?

The current trajectory indicates that the Defense Logistics Agency will face severe bottlenecks, as reliance on proprietary contractor support prevents rapid field modifications. Historical bottlenecks during early deployments of the F-35 Lightning II suggest that commercial supply chains cannot scale quickly enough without direct military oversight of technical data. Consequently, operational availability during a prolonged conflict will likely degrade rapidly as depot-level repairs remain legally bottlenecked by OEM contracts.

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