Difference between revisions of "Technology Populism"

Revision as of 14:22, 5 July 2023

Full Title or Meme

Technology Populism is “an adoption trend led by a technology-native workforce that self provisions collaborative tools, information sources, and human networks – requiring minimal or no ongoing support from a central IT organization”^[1]

Context

• Wikipedia defines Techno-populism^[2] as either a populism in favor of technocracy or a populism concerning certain technology – usually information technology – or any populist ideology conversed using digital media. It can be employed by single politicians or whole political movements respectively. Neighboring terms used in a similar way are technocratic populism, Technology Populism and cyber-populism. Italy’s Five Star Movement and France’s La République En Marche! have been described as technopopulist political movements.
• Like many people part of a demographic that currently have power, Nietzsche saw democracy as a tool of the masses to oppress the few. As Nietzsche despised the “herd”, he was not only opposed to the idea of the majority having all the power but outright afraid of it. While he was not particularly political, he was less concerned with the majority making poor choices and more with them using the state to impose their morality on the free-spirited loners who made up a small part of the population. These are the ideas espoused by Ayn Rand.

The Role of Conflict

• Populism is a style of politics used to mobilize mass movements against ruling powers. Populists claim to speak for ordinary people, taking an “us versus them” stance. Its leaders have used rhetoric that stirs up anger, floated conspiracy theories, pushed the distrust of experts, promoted nationalism and demonized outsiders.^[3]
• Early examples in the deployment of the web starting in 1990 are cypherpunks and the Electronic Freedom Foundation. John Perry Barlow served on the EFF's board of directors, where he was listed as a co-founder after previously serving as vice chairman.[55] The EFF was designed to mediate the "inevitable conflicts that have begun to occur on the border between Cyberspace and the physical world". It tried to build a legal wall separating and protecting the Internet from territorial government, especially the US government. He supported Brand's idea the "Information Wants to be Free".^[4]
• Blockchain technology claims to disrupt the existing financial system, the way of doing business, and to empower ordinary citizens against an elitist economy through decentralization of the decision-making process. In the political arena, the disruptive ideology branded as ‘populism’ challenges the neo-liberal establishment. By appealing to peoples’ fears, frustrations, and dissatisfaction with the political elites, exploiting distrust in the so-called establishment, populism claims to deliver more power to the people. Ultimately, the blockchain and cryptocurrency world has perfected what political populists have pioneered — unrealistic promises, turning the citizen against “the elites” only so long as they are not the elites in charge.^[5]

References

1. ↑ Forrester Report Hidden https://www.forrester.com/allSearch?query=technology%20populism&publishedSinceInDays=-1&sortType=relevance&accessOnly=true&activeTab=allResults
2. ↑ Wikipedia Techno-populism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Techno-populism
3. ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica, Populism (2023) https://www.britannica.com/topic/populism
4. ↑ John Perry Barlow, The Economy of Ideas Wired (1004-03-01) https://www.wired.com/1994/03/economy-ideas/
5. ↑ Cătălin-Gabriel Stănescu and Asress Adimi Gikay, Technological Populism and its Archetypes: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies (2019-09-18) https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/NJCL/article/view/3442