The Rise of Techno-Feudalism
Mark Timberlake
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Published in
Predict
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9 min read
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Feb 28, 2022
Globalisation and automation are impacting society shifting it to a feudal like state. The disruption that has followed globalisation and automation has eliminated vast numbers of businesses and destroyed millions of middle-class jobs. Rising productivity from automation has not been re-invested, and has not yielded replacement jobs. Adding to the uncertainty for ordinary people there is a global housing crisis rendering many property-less serfs. The only prospering classes are professionals and tech oligarchs who benefit as algorithms replace human relationships.
Following a period of greater wealth distribution and opportunity, society is returning to an era of greater concentration of wealth and property, reduced upward mobility, demographic stagnation, and increased dogmatism.
What is Techno-feudalism?
In a Feudal society lords had control over the peasants because they owned the land that the peasants lived on and farmed. In compensation for the privilege of living on, and farming the lord’s land, lords extracted rents from the peasants. Rent-seeking was a major form of economic exchange in Feudal society. It is characterised by the extraction of value without any reciprocal contribution to productivity.
In addition to power and control over the peasants, lords concentrated enormous wealth, and had few constraints outside of obligations to the King and government.
How Tech companies resemble Fiefdoms
Tech platform companies are displaying similar characteristics to Feudal fiefdoms. They are deepening focal points for the concentration of wealth and power. Their business model is a form of rent-seeking as they make no productive economic or social contribution to society. In addition, these companies are playing an increasing role in our lives as they seek a controlling influence over preferences, purchases, and behaviour. And, these tech platform companies are only loosely accountable, as they behave more like nation-states on a global scale.
Concentration of wealth:
Tech companies have concentrated enormous wealth, and economic power. Amazon has almost 1.5 million employees. Alphabet employs over 135,000 people. Facebook employs 48,000…
