Organized Money

Big Tech and Fascism

5 snips
Nov 18, 2025
In this engaging discussion, Tim Wu, a legal scholar and public intellectual known for coining 'net neutrality', dives into his book The Age of Extraction. He explores how tech platforms shifted from innovative spaces to monopolistic powerhouses, discussing the political risks of economic concentration. Wu connects this evolution to rising inequality and even fascism, advocating for treating platforms like utilities to restore balance. With a critical look at Silicon Valley's embrace of monopoly, he outlines anti-monopoly as essential for democratic stability.
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INSIGHT

Extraction vs. Profit

  • Extraction means capturing prices far beyond value provided, not mere profit seeking.
  • Tim Wu argues the modern economy seeks extraction opportunities across sectors.
INSIGHT

What A Platform Really Is

  • Platforms are spaces that bring groups together to transact and speak, from markets to Amazon.
  • Wu says platforms now intermediate nearly every major economic transaction and are essential.
ANECDOTE

IBM Antitrust Opened Software

  • The U.S. Justice Department forced IBM to open its platform to software after a long antitrust fight.
  • Wu credits that intervention with enabling the rise of Microsoft, Oracle, Sun and the U.S. software industry.
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