[Editor’s Note: This week’s GeekWire Podcast features an interview with author Loretta Napoleoni, conducted by Ross Reynolds, the longtime public radio host and occasional GeekWire Podcast guest host, in an event presented by Town Hall Seattle on April 18.]
Loretta Napoleoni is an Italian economist and journalist whose books include “Rogue Economics” and “Insurgent Iraq.” Her newest book is “Technocapitalism: The Rise of the New Robber Barons and the Fight for the Common Good.“
In this interview, she explains the concept of the “present future.” This refers to the disorienting era in which we’re living, characterized by rapid technological change that creates anxiety and a feeling of being constantly behind.
She also discusses the control of technology by a few powerful entrepreneurs, whom she calls “technocapitalists,” and the failure of society and the state to direct technological innovation for the common good.
Listen below, or subscribe to GeekWire in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. Continue reading for highlights from Napoleoni’s comments.
The rapid pace of technological change: “The ‘present future’ is a central concept of the book because, in reality, what it means is that we’re living in the present, of course, but we’re already living in the future. And this is because technology moves so fast that it is almost unbearable for the human being to keep pace with this speed, with the speed of change, especially technological innovation. And that creates anxiety because you’re constantly feeling that you are behind, that you are not adequate to the modernity of life.”
The rise of technocapitalism: “This is not a critique of capitalism. It’s more a critique of how society and the state have approached the control in the hands of the tech titans. We were unable to direct technological innovation towards the common good, towards the society as a whole. I don’t want to sound like I am against them. I don’t want to sound that they are the bad guys and we are the good guys. What I’m saying is, it’s a failure of the system.”
Government’s inability to keep pace: “I don’t think the government wants to catch up. That’s the problem. The EU tried to regulate certain aspects of the internet. There is privacy legislation which was introduced in Europe, which is actually very, very good. The Americans didn’t. The Americans were very much against it. Things have changed recently, but have changed because we reached a certain level in which you do need to intervene. But it is too late.”
The crux of the problem: “Everything that is happening is happening because of political choices. And the political choices are related — because we live in a democracy — to our decisions. We are the voters, and we put those people in place and those people do certain things. So at the end of the day, it’s not technology that’s the problem. The problem is us.”
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Thanks to Town Hall Seattle for presenting this event and providing today’s audio.