The Left's Love Affair with Tech
The Left's Love Affair with Tech
A discussion of my essay, "The Left's Problem with Technology," and related themes on the What's Left? podcast
I was recently invited on the What’s Left? podcast to discuss the relationship between the political left and technology. What’s Left? is a “weekly political discussion challenging the mainstream left” that has been going strong since 2018. I was a guest on What’s Left? last year, for an episode entitled“Blinded by Science,” in which we discussed the topic of science and truth.
This new episode is entitled “The Left’s Love Affair with Tech.” The discussion uses my 2022 essay, “The Left’s Problem with Technology,” as a jumping off point to explore the left’s relationship with technology. In the podcast, we delve into the following topics, among others:
The significance of Luddite movement
The disposition of Marx and Marxism toward technology
Contemporary class realignments and the question of technology
The distinction between tools and machines
Whether or not technologies developed under capitalism are neutral
Why the left supported the covid regime
The relationship between collective struggle and individual liberty
How the problem of scale has impacted leftist thinking on technology
The roots of horizontal hostility in leftist groups
How the left became so technophilic and who resisted this trend
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to discuss these important issues at length on the What’s Left? podcast. I hope you find the conversation as stimulating as I did.
Here’s the YouTube video of the episode:
We are blood brothers against Tech, now out of control. I wrote an essay that was widely distributed back in 2021 explaining the reasons for genocide. Another was a bit earlier, Here I Come to Save the Day, which is more to your point. I sent to Dr Robert Epstein at the time and we have been pen pals since.
https://worldyturnings.com/2022/01/15/here-i-come-to-save-the-day-2/
I wrote a review of this episode of "What's Left?" on my Substack. See
https://jeffreystrahl.substack.com/p/special-edition-102024
Something i didn't mention was the strand within the ranks of Marx's contemporary allies who did not go along with the love of technology. Prime among them was William Morris, a principal of the arts and crafts movement which strongly resisted mass production and industrialism. Also, i differ with the assessment in the 2022 article that the majority of Americans have turned against technology. Hmm, doesn't seem like it, when walking through any neighborhood anywhere, given the huge proportion of people from kids to senior citizens who are glued to their MeDevices. I'd recommend going to https://planetwaves.substack.com/p/living-at-the-edge and read up on "digital conditions," a topic which comes up very often on that page.