English language
Published Aug. 4, 2023 by Random House Children's Books.
In his boldest and most far-reaching book yet, world-famous economist Yanis Varoufakis argues that capitalism is dead and a new economic era has begun.
Insane sums of money that were supposed to re-float our economies in the wake of the financial crisis and the pandemic have ended up supercharging big tech's hold over every aspect of the economy. Capitalism's twin pillars - markets and profit - have been replaced with big tech's platforms and rents. Meanwhile, with every click and scroll, we labour like serfs to increase its power. Welcome to technofeudalism.
Drawing on stories from Greek Myth and pop culture, from Homer to Mad Men , Varoufakis explains this revolutionary how it enslaves our minds, how it rewrites the rules of global power and ultimately what it will take overthrow it.
Late-stage capitalism has given way to cloud-based fiefs, and we are the serfs. I need convincing on some of the detail (e.g. how effective are they at manipulating our desires?), but mostly agree with his main argument. Pairs well with Cory Doctorow's #enshittification ideas (@pluralistic@mamot.fr).
Seems largely accurate in describing a world where technological rents have overtaken profit as the drivers of economic and political power. I do think it falls into the trap of putting too much faith in the near-magical manipulative abilities of algorithms, rather than recognizing the sheer thuggishness of the tech giants as the true source of their dominance. But that’s more a disagreement on the mechanism than the result.
