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Technocapitalism : the rise of the new robber barons and the fight for the common good / Loretta Napoleoni.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Seven Stories Press, [2024]Copyright date: ©2024Description: 292 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781644213292
  • 164421329X
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction: life is full of surprises -- The cypherpunks -- Bitcoin -- Crypto world -- Non-fungible tokens -- Financial meltdown -- Modern monetary theory -- The rise of the techtitans -- The end of the nation state -- The video game of finance -- Assault on Wall Street -- The mythology of carbon credits -- The model of infinite economic growth -- The space barons -- Terraforming -- Space economics.
Summary: "At the dawn of the digital revolution, the internet was going to be the great equalizer, a global democratic force. Instead, with the money printed electronically to bail out banks, Wall Street ended up funding a new breed of serial capitalists, the Techtitans, who embraced rapid, transformational change while stripping their workers of rights and enriching themselves beyond anybody's wildest imagination; and the Space Barons, who mine new frontiers for precious resources. Then came the gig-economy, another supposed digital equalizer, where everybody was their own boss, but it was just another illusion. Tech pioneers like Google, Facebook, Apple, Uber, and Microsoft never had any intention of spreading democracy. Those who control and own the technology are the absolute masters. As artificial intelligence enters the labor market, companies like Uber are able to cut labor costs to the barest of minimums, by squeezing workers' privileges and rights. In Techno-Capitalism, Napoleoni describes these phenomena as the genesis of a new paradigm, born in a period of extraordinary change in which the acceleration of transformational change has caused a dizzying, anxiety-induced paralysis from the FTX collapse to AI, private space companies to the war in Ukraine, from inflation to the dirty environmental truth of EV car batteries. Technological transformation is occurring at a speed that is existentially unbearable for most of us. We must fight for our common good to address today's real challenges of global warming and militarism and the soulessness of capitalist endeavor. Napoleoni shows us how"-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 338.064 N216 Available 33111011347131
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A fascinating look at howthe Space Barons and Techtitans-heads of companies like Uber, Amazon, Tesla-have hijacked technology, preventing it from being used on behalf of the common goodandprofitingfrom the politics of fear and consumerism.

The respected Italian economist and journalist offers a bold and provocative argument that the speed of technological transformation is threatening our future

At the dawn of the digital revolution, the internet was going to be the great equalizer, a global democratic force.Instead, with the money printed electronically to bail out banks, Wall Street ended up funding a new breed of serial capitalists, the Techtitans,who embraced rapid, transformational change while stripping their workers of rights and enriching themselvesbeyond anybody's wildest imagination; and the Space Barons, who mine new frontiers for precious resources. Thencame the gig-economy, another supposed digital equalizer, where everybody was his or her own boss, but it was just another illusion.

Tech pioneers like Google, Facebook, Apple, Uber, and Microsoft never had any intention of spreading democracy. Those who controland ownthe technologyare the absolute masters. As artificial intelligence enters the labor market, companies like Uber are able to cut labor costs to the barest of minimums, by squeezing workers' privileges and rights.

In Technocapitalism , Napoleoni describes these phenomena as the genesis of a new paradigm, born in a period of extraordinary change in which the acceleration oftransformationalchange has caused a dizzying, anxiety-induced paralysis from the FTX collapse to AI, private space companies to the war in Ukraine, from inflation to the dirty environmental truth of EV car batteries.Technological transformationis occurring at a speed that is existentially unbearable for most of us.We must fight for our common good to address today's real challenges of global warming and militarism and the soulessness of capitalist endeavor. Napoleoni shows us how.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: life is full of surprises -- The cypherpunks -- Bitcoin -- Crypto world -- Non-fungible tokens -- Financial meltdown -- Modern monetary theory -- The rise of the techtitans -- The end of the nation state -- The video game of finance -- Assault on Wall Street -- The mythology of carbon credits -- The model of infinite economic growth -- The space barons -- Terraforming -- Space economics.

"At the dawn of the digital revolution, the internet was going to be the great equalizer, a global democratic force. Instead, with the money printed electronically to bail out banks, Wall Street ended up funding a new breed of serial capitalists, the Techtitans, who embraced rapid, transformational change while stripping their workers of rights and enriching themselves beyond anybody's wildest imagination; and the Space Barons, who mine new frontiers for precious resources. Then came the gig-economy, another supposed digital equalizer, where everybody was their own boss, but it was just another illusion. Tech pioneers like Google, Facebook, Apple, Uber, and Microsoft never had any intention of spreading democracy. Those who control and own the technology are the absolute masters. As artificial intelligence enters the labor market, companies like Uber are able to cut labor costs to the barest of minimums, by squeezing workers' privileges and rights. In Techno-Capitalism, Napoleoni describes these phenomena as the genesis of a new paradigm, born in a period of extraordinary change in which the acceleration of transformational change has caused a dizzying, anxiety-induced paralysis from the FTX collapse to AI, private space companies to the war in Ukraine, from inflation to the dirty environmental truth of EV car batteries. Technological transformation is occurring at a speed that is existentially unbearable for most of us. We must fight for our common good to address today's real challenges of global warming and militarism and the soulessness of capitalist endeavor. Napoleoni shows us how"-- Provided by publisher.

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