Definitions by Dumu The Void

Systemic Enshittification

The pervasive, structural tendency of systems under late capitalism to degrade over time, embedded in the normal functioning of markets, platforms, and institutions. Systemic enshittification describes how quality decay has become the default trajectory—not because anyone chooses it, but because the system rewards extraction over investment, short-term profit over long-term value, and monopoly power over competition. Under systemic enshittification, everything tends toward worse: jobs, products, services, cities, relationships, life itself. Not because anyone wills it, but because the system's logic inevitably produces degradation.

Systemic Enshittification Example: "Everything seemed to get worse every year—jobs paid less, products broke faster, services cut corners, cities became harder to afford—not conspiracy, but Systemic Enshittification, the default trajectory of a system optimized for extraction rather than flourishing."

Systemic Enshittification by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Intentional Enshittification

The deliberate degradation of wages, jobs, products, or services by those who control them, as a strategy for extracting maximum value from locked-in users or workers. Intentional enshittification occurs when platforms or employers consciously decide to make things worse because they can—because switching costs are high, because alternatives have been eliminated, because workers are trapped, because users are addicted. Each degradation is calculated: how much can we cut before they leave? How much can we extract before they break? The process is not accidental but engineered, not inevitable but chosen.

Intentional Enshittification Example: "The app could have maintained quality, but once workers depended on it for survival, they intentionally degraded pay and conditions—not market forces, but Intentional Enshittification, the deliberate poisoning of your own product because you own the only well."

Intentional Enshittification by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Systemic Precarization

The pervasive, structural production of economic instability across entire economies and societies, embedded in the normal functioning of institutions rather than the choices of particular actors. Systemic precarization describes how precarity has become the default condition—built into labor law, normalized by employment practices, reinforced by social policy, automated by algorithms, naturalized by ideology. No one needs to deliberately choose precarity; the system produces it automatically, as inevitably as industrial capitalism produced smokestacks. Systemic precarization is the atmosphere of the open-air prison—you breathe it without noticing, but it shapes every aspect of your existence.

Systemic Precarization Example: "No single policy created his precarity—it was the cumulative effect of forty years of labor law erosion, technological change, globalization, and normalized insecurity. Not anyone's fault, but Systemic Precarization: instability as the new normal."

Systemic Precarization by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Intentional Precarization

The deliberate design and maintenance of economic instability as a feature of labor systems, not a bug. Intentional precarization occurs when employers, platforms, or policymakers consciously structure work to be precarious because precarity serves their interests—it disciplines workers, suppresses wages, prevents organization, and ensures maximum flexibility for capital. The gig economy's algorithmic scheduling, the just-in-time workforce, the proliferation of independent contractor status, the erosion of labor protections—these are not unfortunate side effects but intended outcomes. Intentional precarization is the open-air prison's foundation: keep workers uncertain enough to accept anything, desperate enough to never resist.

Intentional Precarization Example: "The platform could have provided stable schedules and predictable income—instead, they designed algorithmic unpredictability because it maximized their flexibility. Not accidental precarity, but Intentional Precarization, precarity as architecture."

Intentional Precarization by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Job Enshittification

The progressive deterioration of job quality, conditions, and meaning over time, while workers remain trapped by lack of alternatives. Job enshittification describes how positions that once offered dignity, security, or satisfaction are systematically degraded—responsibilities increase while pay stagnates, autonomy is replaced by algorithmic management, benefits are stripped, schedules become unpredictable, the work itself becomes meaningless or actively harmful. Each change is small, framed as "necessary adjustment," but cumulatively transforms decent jobs into traps. The job doesn't just stay bad; it actively worsens, year by year, until workers find themselves in positions they would never have accepted at the start.

Job Enshittification Example: "When she took the job, it had purpose, autonomy, and respect. Ten years later, with relentless 'optimization,' micromanagement, and meaningless metrics, she barely recognized it—not burnout, but Job Enshittification, the active decay of work itself."

Job Enshittification by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Job Precarization

The systematic transformation of employment itself into a source of permanent uncertainty and risk. Job precarization operates through the elimination of stable positions, the proliferation of temporary contracts, the outsourcing of permanent roles to gig platforms, the at-will erosion of job security, and the normalization of constant turnover. Unlike traditional unemployment (a temporary state), job precarization makes precarity the permanent condition: you always have a job, but you never have security—the job could disappear tomorrow, be algorithmically eliminated, be outsourced to someone cheaper, be redesigned to make your skills obsolete. The job itself becomes precarious, not just the worker.

Job Precarization Example: "He had worked there for seven years, but with at-will employment, constant restructuring, and the threat of outsourcing, he'd never felt secure—not unemployment, but Job Precarization, the transformation of long-term employment into permanent uncertainty."

Job Precarization by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Wage Enshittification

A specific form of wage deterioration where compensation not only fails to keep pace with costs but actively degrades in quality, reliability, and purchasing power over time. Drawing on the broader concept of enshittification (the tendency of platforms and systems to become progressively worse for users once they're locked in), Wage Enshittification describes how employers gradually erode compensation while workers remain trapped by lack of alternatives. Benefits are cut, hours are reduced, base pay is frozen while inflation rises, overtime is eliminated, bonuses become impossible targets—each change small enough to not trigger resistance, cumulative enough to produce steady immiseration. The wage doesn't just stay low; it actively rots.

Wage Enshittification Example: "When she started, the job paid enough to live. Five years later, with 'cost-saving adjustments,' benefit cuts, and inflation, she made less in real terms than at the beginning—not stagnation, but Wage Enshittification, the active decay of compensation."

Wage Enshittification by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026