System Error

Techno-utopianism claimed that the old ways of doing things are broken, and technology is the panacea: ending poverty, fixing racism, equalizing opportunity, strengthening democracy; toppling authoritarian regimes. Disruptive, wealthy and apolitical innovators were/are the heroes, and not the tech activists, e.g. the late Aaron Swartz. However, the conversation has shifted to techno-dystopianism: humans losing jobs, loss of privacy, radicalization, etc. But both techno-utopianism and techno-dystopianism are too facile and simplistic outlooks....

Pre-read thoughts. I think for the general population, the value of privacy is not worth the inconvenience associated with securing it, in the cases where it’s not readily availed by Big Tech. For example, one wouldn’t go out of their way to not have passwords and 2FA. However, when it comes to matters like online privacy, most folks are willing to allow surveillance in exchange for free services like web search, social media, etc....