Regulators and lawmakers eagerly prepare to abdicate any last traces of interest in the wellbeing of everyday Americans as they suck up to the powerful billionaires who will soon be publicly calling the shots.
Tech billionaires are eagerly awaiting Trump’s inauguration, hoping that he will quickly follow through with his promises to slash regulations and directly bolster their bottom lines. Many of them have already been named to various advisory positions throughout the White House, ensuring lockstep coordination between the new administration and powerful venture capitalists, crypto executives, and tech CEOs.
As it happens, I’m not the only person rattling on about the tech oligarchy lately. In his outgoing address, President Biden said:
I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked.
Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.
We see the consequences all across America. And we’ve seen it before, more than a century ago. But the American people stood up to the robber barons back then and busted the trusts. …
Six decades later, I’m equally concerned about the potential rise of a tech-industrial complex that could pose real dangers for our country as well.
Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power. The free press is crumbling. Editors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on fact-checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit.
I’ve had more than my share of disagreements with Biden, and wish he’d done a whole lot more and differently to tackle these problems during his tenure, but I do agree with his words here.