Insecurity is a shared experience that requires collective action and demands for a world that meets basic needs and political security.
Capitalism thrives on manufacturing insecurity, and the tech industry exploits and perpetuates this insecurity to fuel its business models, resulting in heightened anxieties and fears for individuals.
Addressing and alleviating insecurity requires reframing risk as a communal concern and implementing societal measures like social insurance and preventive strategies, promoting a sense of collective care.
Deep dives
The Need to Face Vulnerability and Fight for a Secure World
The speaker emphasizes the importance of acknowledging our vulnerability and recognizing that insecurity is a shared experience. They advocate for banding together to fight for a world that meets our basic needs and provides political security. This perspective challenges the idea that individuals should overcome their insecurities on their own and highlights the importance of collective action.
Insecurity as a Consequence of Capitalism and Technology
The podcast discusses how capitalism generates insecurity and the role of technology in exacerbating this issue. The speaker draws comparisons between the enclosure movement and the modern tech industry, highlighting the continuity of manufacturing insecurity. They argue that the business models of tech companies rely on exploiting and perpetuating insecurity, resulting in heightened anxieties and fears for individuals.
Reframing Inequality and Exploring the Notion of Security
The podcast explores the concept of security as a supplement to the discussion of inequality. It emphasizes the forward-looking nature of insecurity and how it affects individuals' feelings and emotions. By reframing risk as a communal concern, rather than individual fault, the speaker advocates for societal measures, such as social insurance and preventive strategies, to address and alleviate insecurity while promoting a sense of collective care.
Material security and its importance
Material security, particularly through the welfare state, is crucial for individuals and society. It not only provides stability and protection against insecurity but also has positive effects on personal and political aspects. Material security leads to increased tolerance, open-mindedness, and decreases authoritarian tendencies. The construction of the welfare state in the mid-20th century emphasized the importance of security and framed it as a response to the insecurities faced by people during the Great Depression and World War. Ensuring material security is an essential aspect of a more equitable and democratic society.
The manipulation of insecurity by the tech industry
The tech industry has capitalized on people's insecurities by exploiting them under the guise of empowerment. For instance, after the 2008 financial crisis, tech companies positioned themselves as providers of freedom through the gig economy, creating more insecurity for workers. Corporate America often undermines the welfare state and creates gig economy conditions, while insulating themselves from risk, which is then placed on workers. The idea that repealing the social safety net promotes individual motivation is promoted by corporate rhetoric, but it ignores the many other factors that drive people, such as cooperation and care. The tech industry's exploitation of insecurity reveals the need to challenge these narratives and prioritize equitable material security.
Paris Marx is joined by Astra Taylor to discuss how capitalism creates insecurity to sustain itself, the way tech is used to make us more insecure, and what it will take to change that.
Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.
The podcast is produced by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.
