Ep. 101 - A ‘Mindset’ of Misanthropy

The billionaire founders of Big Tech firms are constantly touting “revolutionary” new products like cryptocurrency, AI, and the metaverse. They claim these exist “for the good of humanity,” but we should be extremely wary of their altruistic professions.

On this episode, Commonweal features editor Alexander Stern speaks with media critic Douglas Rushkoff, author of more than twenty books. His most recent is Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Peter Thiel want one thing, according to Rushkoff: profit, which comes at the expense of our psychological attention, physical well-being, and social cohesion. Only by understanding their misanthropic mindset can we begin imagining alternatives and fighting back. 

For further reading: 

• Alexander Stern on the mundanity of AI
• Meghan Sullivan on the limits of ‘longtermism’
• Dominic Preziosi on the arrogance of Elon Musk