The heteropessimism of techno-optimism

“Techno-optimism” is a system of belief currently fueling the very worst tech bros—from Elon Musk to Mark Zuckerberg. So, we decided to do a close read of the movement’s manifesto to better understand its architects and their vision of the future, which includes becoming “Technological Supermen” and… invading space.

We turn to figures like Marc Andreessen, who have claimed this thinking as their own, to consider the broader implications of believing that endless innovation can save us.

As we dig further into this seemingly neutral but actually very straight-white-guy idea that technological advancements are inherently good for humanity, we find that capitalist definitions of progress are actually just the same old hyper-masculine, colonialist hero’s journeys, dressed up in VC-funded clothing.

And in all these visions of the future, I bet you can guess the role of women.

Looking at links between techno-optimism, pronatalism, and the manosphere, we ask what a more intersectional feminist vision of technology and the future might look like.

Artificial wombs anyone?

Show highlights include…

02:29 The origins of “techno-optimism”

04:47 The techno-optimist manifesto

07:07 The dystopia of “not utopia but close enough”

09:10 The romance and eros of technology… for dudes

9:58 The hero’s journey but make it tech bro

11:56 “Free thinkers” rebelling against their controlling mommies

14:12 Not that fringe, sadly

15:04 Vance’s stint in VC, inspired by Lord of the Rings

18:30 Web 3.0 ughhhhh

23:43 Dudes doing dude things (challenging each other to cage fights in the Roman coliseum)

25:30 Masculine energy™ bc the oppression of feminine energy, ofc

29:38 Futurist masculinity (and contempt for women) is not new or innovative

35:35 Pronatalist “techno-optimism” and women’s work in this version of the future

39:00 Unserious people in great positions of power, the pessimism of reproductive control, the role of women’s bodies and the American family, and, yes, eugenics, again

40:20 Red-pill thinking and the “cock carousel”

46:28 The nuclear family as anti-woke isolationism and imperialism

54:20 Leftist pro-tech philosophies that erase ecological destruction, global racial violence, and the feminist struggle to restructure work

55:43 Artificial wombs as the downfall of men… could be good? And other feminist visions of the future.

A huge thanks to everyone who has already supported us. Dire Straights is a scrappy feminist operation coming to you at exactly the right time in history. We don’t take any money from tech bros and paid subscriptions from listeners are the only reason we can talk about this stuff so freely and imagine a better future than the one these guys want.

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