Meeting #1
Theme: The Automated Labour Problem, AI‑Powered Authoritarianism, and Orwell's Nightmare
Academic and Political Concepts
Neoliberalism: An economic and political ideology that emphasizes free-market capitalism, deregulation, and the reduction of government spending. It advocates for privatizing state-owned enterprises and shifting economic control from the public to the private sector.
Surveillance Capitalism: A term coined by scholar Shoshana Zuboff, describing an economic system centered around the commodification of personal data. In this model, tech companies collect vast amounts of user data, often without their full awareness, to predict and influence their behavior for profit.
Techno-feudalism: A theory suggesting that society is transitioning from capitalism to a new system resembling feudalism, where a small number of technology companies act as modern-day lords. These "digital overlords" control the platforms and data that are essential for economic and social participation.
The Dark Enlightenment (or Neo-reactionary movement/NRx): An anti-democratic and anti-egalitarian political philosophy that rejects the values of the Enlightenment. It advocates for a return to traditional societal structures and authoritarian forms of government, such as absolute monarchy or corporate-style rule.
Neocameralism: A system of governance, proposed by Curtis Yarvin, where a country is run like a for-profit corporation. In this model, a "sovereign CEO" would hold absolute authority, with the goal of managing the state efficiently, akin to a business.
The Cathedral: A concept within Dark Enlightenment ideology, referring to what its proponents see as a self-organizing consensus among influential institutions like universities, media, and the civil service. This "Cathedral" is believed to promote progressive ideology and maintain control over public discourse.
Key Individuals
Peter Thiel: A prominent billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies. Thiel is also known for his libertarian and, at times, neo-reactionary political views, and his financial support of conservative and "alt-right" figures.
Yanis Varoufakis: A Greek economist and politician who served as Greece's Minister of Finance in 2015. He is a vocal critic of the global financial system and a proponent of the theory of "techno-feudalism," arguing that capitalism is being replaced by a new form of digital feudalism.
Curtis Yarvin (Mencius Moldbug): An American software developer and political blogger who is a key figure in the Dark Enlightenment movement. Under the pseudonym Mencius Moldbug, he developed ideas like neocameralism and the "Cathedral," advocating for the replacement of democracy with an authoritarian, corporate-style government.
Nick Land: A British philosopher and writer known for his association with the "Dark Enlightenment" and accelerationist theories. He coined the term "Dark Enlightenment" and has been influential in neo-reactionary circles.
Shoshana Zuboff: A professor emerita at Harvard Business School and the author who coined and developed the concept of "surveillance capitalism". Her work explores how technology companies collect and use personal data to predict and control human behavior.
René Girard: A French-American historian, literary critic, and philosopher. His work on "mimetic theory" — the idea that human desire is largely imitative and that this imitation can lead to conflict and scapegoating — has been influential in various fields.
Companies
Palantir Technologies: A U.S.-based software company that specializes in big data analytics. Co-founded by Peter Thiel, Palantir provides data analysis tools to government agencies, including intelligence and military bodies, as well as to large corporations.
Flock Safety: A technology company that provides a public safety operating system, best known for its automated license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras. It markets its "Safety-as-a-Service" to law enforcement agencies, private communities, and businesses, creating a network of cameras that capture vehicle data to solve and deter crime. Civil liberties groups have criticized Flock for creating a centralized mass surveillance system.