Cyberpunk, as a genre of fiction, was supposed to be a warning and not an instruction manual.
Until we figure out a way to separate political power from wealth, I fear that all forms of wealth disparity will create power disparities that can and will eventually be abused to dismantle democracy.
Why pretend you can keep both? You can have democracy, or you can have private wealth.
Technologies accelerate all sorts of agendas, but to blame this long-standing problem specifically on tech companies is to misunderstand the problem. Corporations shouldn’t have been allowed much influence on governance in the first place, no matter what their tools or line of business might be.
Instead of pointing fingers, how about we stop allowing corporate political donations and lobbyists in democracies, and put some real enforcement behind anti-corruption and bribery laws?
Who woulda funk’d?
