friction can be valuable aka. efficiency isn't always good

The system always balances its books eventually. The more we optimize individual experiences for frictionlessness, the more collectively dysfunctional our systems become. All three worlds are interlocked in this economy of friction

This is the economic story: friction has become a class experience . Wealth has always helped smooth over bumps - but when the physical world is such a mess and the digital world is so easy, it’s simple to curate the digital into the physical if you have money.

When systems that were designed for resilience are optimized instead for efficiency, they break.

we have a world where friction gets automated out of experiences, aestheticized in curated lifestyles, and dumped onto underfunded infrastructure and overworked labor. The effort doesn't disappear; it just moves.