The Implications of Breaking Up Big Tech

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I think it's very heartening to me that people are finally having conversations about sort of breaking up big tech. But I think we need to go a step further and go, okay, well, what other ways could we fund things that aren't just the sort of advertising or donation models? The public media. In fact, what is democracy was funded by the National Film Board of Canada? And so, you know, this is an anecdote I often give, but in 2014, I went to my New York City literary agent,. You know, I want to write a book on democracy. She said, no way that is a career suicide. It will never sell. Then I went to

“Democracy may not exist, but we’ll miss it when it’s gone” — or so suggests the title of Astra Taylor’s new book. We all know how democracy falls short, in practice, of its lofty ideals; but we can also appreciate how democratic values are crucial in the fight for a more just society. In this conversation, we dig into the nature of democracy, from its origins to the present day. We talk about who gets to participate, how economic inequality affects political inequality, and how democratic ideals manifest themselves in any number of real-world situations.

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Astra Taylor is a filmmaker, author, and activist. Her documentary films include Zizek!, The Examined Life, and most recently What Is Democracy? Her books include The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital age and the new Democracy May Not Exist, But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone. She has taught sociology at the university level, and written for publications from n+1 to The London Review of Books. She was active in the Occupy movement, and is a co-founder of the Debt Collective.