This Book Part II

 

Sarah Wilson asks this: ‘What is it with the technofascist takeover? Why are they being ‘allowed’ to build killer robots? And to dictate global politics? Why isn’t anyone stopping them?’

The ‘technofascists’ are, of course, the handful of mostly American, white, and hideously rich men who own artificial intelligence and other related technologies that are, or have already, taken over the running of the modern world. Men like Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Tim Cook, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. They say we have problems bigger than our human brains can solve, so tech upgrades are in constant need. They don’t even try to deny that their very technology is adding to the destructive mess our apparently inadequate human brains can no longer cope with. 

And this next part is what REALLY outraged me. Three years ago, Marc Andreessen, a tech billionaire investor, released a ‘Techno-Optimist Manifesto’ which is revered in many tech circles. Some points from that manifesto include: 

‘We believe that since human wants and needs are infinite, economic demand is infinite, and job growth can continue forever.’

‘We believe that there is no material problem - whether created by nature or technology - that cannot be solved with more technology.’

‘We believe in nature, but we also believe in overcoming nature.’ (This especially enraged me.)

And at the end Andreessen paraphrases a quote from Italian Fascist Filippo Tommaso Marinetti from his ‘Futurist Manifesto (1909): ‘Technology must be the violent assault on the forces of the unknown, to force them to bow before man.’

(By the way, in 2024 Marc Andreessen became tech policy adviser to…yup, Donald Trump. I think it is someone else now, but still, it makes you want to weep, doesn’t it?)

I cannot get my head around the sheer arrogance of these so-called ‘tech bros’ (infantile name, or what?), and the fact they think they can overcome Nature. Don’t they SEE that without Nature, we are nothing?

Of course, I see the irony that here I am, having a rant on an internet platform run by Google rather than expressing my anger, upset and disappointment in a paper journal using my ink pen, creating a document which might be read hundreds of years from now by my ancestors who might think, ‘You know, she had a point, didn’t she, but it’s too late now,’ as they float around on the techno dusty, barren and faceless rock that hundreds of years previously used to be called Planet Earth. ‘Remember Old Earth?’ they might say, looking at faded images of our beautiful planet. ‘When it was all green and blue and full of something called Nature. It must have been so wonderful and awe-inspiring.’

That’s because it IS! It is here now, outside my window in all its magical, colourful, indomitable beauty. I cannot bear to think that one day it might all be gone because of the arrogance and stupidity of a few cocky humans who think they are top of the world and all that is in it. They’re not. They are faceless specks of nothing compared with the Universe. We all are. That’s humanity - knowing that and owing it, and then doing our damnedest to live WITH Nature in a humble and supportive way, not trash it underfoot because we ‘need’ the next tech upgrade. 

And…breathe…

This afternoon I popped into Morrison’s because Lord Malarkey likes a curry and although I am not too curry keen myself, I thought I’d do a curry thing for dinner. Now, during my previous three or four visits, I have noticed a new customer assistant manning the self-service tills. He has a cheery demeanour, he leaps in to help when it is needed, he greets everyone with a smile and says goodbye when they leave. He is, in my opinion, an exemplar of excellent customer service. And this afternoon I stopped on my way out of the shop to tell him so. 

His name is Sam. He is only a young chap and he was very modest in accepting my compliment. He said, ‘I usually flag a little mid-afternoon, but I manage to pick myself up pretty quickly.’ 

When I got home, I sent an email to Morrison’s Customer Service department saying what a great asset Sam was to their company, and that I hoped he was appreciated by his store management team.