Big tech's empire state

Silicon Valley runs world from behind facade of politics

- by JESSE SMITH

THROUGHOUT the ages, many self-serving individuals and groups have positioned themselves as rulers, financiers, benefactors, and thought leaders - to steer change towards preferred outcomes.

From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the Jacobin and Napoleon-led French Revolution in the late 18th century, societal transformation has been constant, as one form of government replaces another.

We have now arrived at yet another historical inflection point. The desire for political and economic reconstruction is being demanded globally as the gap between the ultra-wealthy and everyone else continues to accelerate.

In recent years, populism has taken flight by inspiring the masses to reject the rule of 'the elite' and chart a new course. However, without scrutiny, this movement and its key figures could be just as dangerous as the establishment they are attempting to usurp. In fact, what we are witnessing is not populism in its truest sense but techno-populism, or technocracy, as it has been called since its inception in 1920.

Technocracy can be defined simply as an impersonal and scientific method of managing all aspects of a society. Its primary concerns deal with how energy is produced and used. But it goes much deeper than this.

One of the best explanations can be found in an issue of The Technocrat magazine from September 1937, where it states: 'Technocracy is the science of social engineering, the scientific operation of the entire social mechanism to produce and distribute goods and services to the entire population of this continent. For the first time in human history it will be done as a scientific, technical, engineering problem. There will be no place for politics or politicians, finance or financiers, rackets or racketeers.'