Gil Duran coined a phrase to describe something I Tweet about a lot here as well. The capture of democracies…

Gil Duran coined a phrase to describe something I Tweet about a lot here as well. The capture of democracies by Silicon Valley. Duran calls it 'The Nerd Reich'. This has been going on for a lot longer than Musk, Zuckerberg etc. /1 https://t.co/GOSBvXy5aW

Older Silicon Valley leviathans also have also always had as their core mission to disintermediate social processes. To have their tools and services replace existing tools and services. To insinuate themselves into every facet of life. /2

And then to monetise it. One of the reasons these companies make such enormous sums of money is that they succeeded. They became 'obligatory passage points' (a Latour phrase) for modern life. They captured societies. /3

They've always had utopian visions for societies, this wasn't just about offering tools for existing social models. They wanted to remake societies. With them at the centre. I don't mean to be rude, but this is also a very American thing to do. /4

To on the one hand have a political system that proudly sells 'freedom' to the world. To be continuously and aggressively hostile to society and social things, as a type of 'socialism'. While rapidly organising and monetising the resultant chaos, to create tech-society. /5

'The Nerd Reich', as Duran calls it. I see it as a competely predictable evolution of the libertarian fantasies at the heart of American life. Societies exist. They need to be organised. In the absence of government to do it, corporations will do it. /6

And they will then export this anti-institutional Freudian hang-up everywhere their products go. Silicon Valley hardware and software now runs the world. Which means it owns the world. That was always the intent. /7

Cybercrime is a pestilence, a complete pandemic of clusterfuck. That's the world you and I have to negotiate now every day. You'll be lucky if anybody helps or compensates you for losses. /8

And the amazing irony to conclude this story? Who created SIlicon Valley? The US Navy. Government. /end