CAPITALISM: 'Techno-feudalism' is a global expansion with an all-consuming, limitless development of non-material phenomena. Here, social democracy can no longer make any difference, according to Yanis Varoufakis in this book.
MODERN TIMES CONVERSATIONS: This time we met a fearless activist and anarchist. After a long life, he summarized a thoughtfulness in the areas of anarchism, minorities, fear/violence – and love. Audun Engh was ill when the conversation took place, and died a few months later.
FRIZZ: What began in the 1950s and 60s as converted cruise ships, adapted oil platforms, anti-aircraft bases, floating radio stations and abortion clinics has gained new relevance with digital technology. For the liberalist idea of being 'free', new technology is essential: smart cities, continuous online, use of crypto-currency and direct elections.
THE GLOCAL: Citizens' councils can revitalize Europe. Their success depends both on their ability to strengthen the EU's participatory political processes, and on greater responsiveness to citizens' local communities. Here we look at how the first "European Commons Assembly" provided an opportunity for information-based political reforms together – based on social and ecological sustainability.
CAPTURE: Who has the right to move "freely" on the digital highways, and who is waved to the side by the police or the state intelligence service because their data profile appears on the radar?
GROWTH: Through "creative destruction" and technological disruption, capitalism created the conditions for a new cycle of economic growth. But now the trend seems to continue towards zero. Is it a vicious circle of global competition, falling prices, overcapacity, technological inertia (rather than innovation) and falling incentives to invest – which is the cause of capitalism's protracted crisis?
SURVEILLANCE:State surveillance would not have been possible without the services of Silicon Valley's technology companies. For example, Google in Surveillance Valley is described as "a full-fledged military contractor, who sold versions of the company's consumer data and analytics technology to police departments, city councils, and major U.S. intelligence and military organizations."
BITCOINS: In a book that is both wild, elegant and utopian, accelerator Mark Alizart sees bitcoin as the very royal road to a classless society and a better future.
Things are starting to behave. But the fact that things around us are getting smarter does not necessarily mean that we ourselves are getting smarter, quite the contrary.
Will increased control or monitoring in this decade eventually leave more to algorithms that carry out actions themselves based on so-called "actionable intelligence"?
DATA LAW:
The world's autocracies introduce new internet laws to prevent the emergence of "rebellious" groups, such as democracy movements and human rights organizations.
One of Germany's best-known bloggers, Schlecky Silberstein, states that attention is the most important currency in the 21. century and that the internet creates anxiety.
