What happens to politics when the voice of the people blurs together with the voices of self-appointed god-emperors like Elon Musk? We are about to find out.
More at Democracy Journal.
Reining in Our Tech God-Emperors
Other Writing:
Essay
Revolutionary Possibility (on China Mieville’s October)
October, China Miéville’s new book, describes the October Revolution as a moment of possibility. In its closing pages, Miéville explains why he wrote the book, despite the revolution’s aftermath: Those who count themselves on the side of the revolution must engage with these failures and crimes. To do otherwise is to fall into apologia, special ...
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EssayPublic Writing
The Enshittification of American Power
Back in 2022, Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to describe a cycle that has played out again and again in the online economy. Entrepreneurs start off making high-minded promises to get new users to try their platforms. But once users, vendors, and advertisers have been locked in—by network effects, insurmountable collective action problems, high switching costs—the ...
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