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Are We Transitioning From Capitalism to Silicon Serfdom? (jacobin.com)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The idea that we are entering an era of techno-feudalism that will be worse than capitalism is chilling and controversial. We asked former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis to elucidate this idea, explain how we got here, and map out some alternatives.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 8 months ago (2 children)

One of the things not addressed in this interview is how the ideology of libertarianism is central to the transition from markets to fiefdoms. All the big tech bros are huge libertarians and that's not an accident.

And I do think this is a new phenomena unlike classic capitalism. Marx thought that a post-scarcity society would mean more leisure, he didn't anticipate that that leisure was just another source of value to exploit. Think of reddit selling it's "content" to an AI company. That content wasn't produced by coerced labor paid unfairly, it was produced by voluntary labor paid nothing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Marx didn't anticipate information technology. Because of IT, we are moving to a new regime of humanity. The automation of action is part of the reason, but the most important is the ability of any group of people to communicate. The control of broadcast underpins the prior structures of power. Now, anyone can reach everyone, and we are watching the power of the state erode in the rise of fascism globally.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Yeah. I think social media should be seen as virtual worlds that created new types of "alternative nation" that are controlled by these "cloud capitalists". They decide the rules of conduct and eCommerce and the shape of society.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Yes, exactly this.