The battle between the techno-feudalists, the corporate monarchists, and the christo-fascists over who will control the government and the economy continues to play out. This is just a set back for the broligarchy. They are far from out. They will keep working together as long as their interests overlap, but none of them plays well with others. No matter the outcome if one of those three reaches ascendancy, we are screwed.
I, along with Peter Lewis, will break a machine the next time someone forgets what an actual Luddite was: not someone who was anti-technology, but someone who despised and dispatched technologies that attempted to replace their work or destroy their livelihoods.
Hammers up! And thanks for the measly breadcrumb (not). Remember the lengths (if you can) that Apartheid went through to 'democratise' the cutting of each of the ('parliamentary') knives. Life with a thousand cuts lives on ... (deja vu.) All the US of A needs now is a copy-and-paste of the infamous, and indefinite, 'Preventative Detention Act' - its there for the taking ...
I've talked about the former in a number of interviews, but less the latter. I'll do a live chat / Q+A one of these days if folks would like to answer Qs like that.
There comes a time when even the half-boiled frogs need to shout: "Enough!" When will 'capital hill' wake up to that? This was a 'weird' but very close call. One vote. As they (might) say in 'westminster', "the broligarchs (very nearly) have it (all)."
Huh. As a Tennessean I'm really surprised that Blackburn was the one who sunk the part about state AI legislation. She's usually a predictable lapdog for corporate and business interests.
The AI firms’ attempt to hijack the democratic process by curtailing states’ ability to regulate AI reminds me of California Prop 22, which passed in 2020.
This ballot initiative — in which voters granted gig platforms like Uber and DoorDash the right to classify their workers as contractors rather than employees — contained a malicious clause that stated only a 7/8 vote of both houses of the state legislature could amend the law.
A 7/8 vote! It is technically easier to impeach and convict the president of the United States than it is to change Prop 22 once it went on the books. The gig companies exploited the ballot process to lock in permanent power beyond democratic oversight. And similarly, the AI platforms attempted to undermine democracy as part of Trump’s Big Bullshit Bill.
It is all part of a pattern of sociopathic behavior where the tech companies construct protective, alligator-filled moats around their businesses into which they toss the American people.
While we are distracted, the techno-feudalists have joined forced with the other corporate overlords, in completely evicerating whatever remnants of a democracy and social contract that held civilized society together. Either we wake up and fight corporatocracy and big tech, or we sleep and surrender to slavery, and the dystopian future that none of us will recognize.
The battle between the techno-feudalists, the corporate monarchists, and the christo-fascists over who will control the government and the economy continues to play out. This is just a set back for the broligarchy. They are far from out. They will keep working together as long as their interests overlap, but none of them plays well with others. No matter the outcome if one of those three reaches ascendancy, we are screwed.
I, along with Peter Lewis, will break a machine the next time someone forgets what an actual Luddite was: not someone who was anti-technology, but someone who despised and dispatched technologies that attempted to replace their work or destroy their livelihoods.
Hammers up! And thanks for the measly breadcrumb (not). Remember the lengths (if you can) that Apartheid went through to 'democratise' the cutting of each of the ('parliamentary') knives. Life with a thousand cuts lives on ... (deja vu.) All the US of A needs now is a copy-and-paste of the infamous, and indefinite, 'Preventative Detention Act' - its there for the taking ...
Thanks for the up to the minute update Brian, much appreciated.
Great foresight, Brian! Have you ever done an interview on the background of your book idea, how hard it was to sell?
I've talked about the former in a number of interviews, but less the latter. I'll do a live chat / Q+A one of these days if folks would like to answer Qs like that.
can you reach out to me for a Substack Live? My email - daniel.pinchbeck@gmail.com ... I have a bestselling Substack etc.
"Ultimately, they were one vote short. But just one."
The U.S. Senate voted 99-1 to remove the moratorium though? So it was voted down by an overwhelming majority?
Read the piece! That is what the GOP would like to be remembered about this effort I am sure....
There comes a time when even the half-boiled frogs need to shout: "Enough!" When will 'capital hill' wake up to that? This was a 'weird' but very close call. One vote. As they (might) say in 'westminster', "the broligarchs (very nearly) have it (all)."
Huh. As a Tennessean I'm really surprised that Blackburn was the one who sunk the part about state AI legislation. She's usually a predictable lapdog for corporate and business interests.
Wasn't it to do with effectively invalidating a state law in Tennessee that she implemented?
Cruz said he'd give that TN law a pass if she went along with the AI amendment, but she still backed out of it.
Thank you for teh clarification. I wouldn't have expected it of her, but glad she did.
The AI firms’ attempt to hijack the democratic process by curtailing states’ ability to regulate AI reminds me of California Prop 22, which passed in 2020.
This ballot initiative — in which voters granted gig platforms like Uber and DoorDash the right to classify their workers as contractors rather than employees — contained a malicious clause that stated only a 7/8 vote of both houses of the state legislature could amend the law.
A 7/8 vote! It is technically easier to impeach and convict the president of the United States than it is to change Prop 22 once it went on the books. The gig companies exploited the ballot process to lock in permanent power beyond democratic oversight. And similarly, the AI platforms attempted to undermine democracy as part of Trump’s Big Bullshit Bill.
It is all part of a pattern of sociopathic behavior where the tech companies construct protective, alligator-filled moats around their businesses into which they toss the American people.
While we are distracted, the techno-feudalists have joined forced with the other corporate overlords, in completely evicerating whatever remnants of a democracy and social contract that held civilized society together. Either we wake up and fight corporatocracy and big tech, or we sleep and surrender to slavery, and the dystopian future that none of us will recognize.