Thread by @SIOllenburg

Want to thank @Bindestriche for the retweet. Inspired the need to vent my thoughts in this🧵
An article on Peter #Thiel & his vision, to me a sign: we need to reclaim our #future & not let #techgurus take over.
Let’s start to look at our daily routines: fast pace thru … 1/21

https://twitter.com/jasonintrator/status/1532809657575669760

… #digital tools for working, shopping, researching, studying. communicating & more, made possible by mostly #SiliconValley’s tech companies for a “convenient” life. And I wonder if this is really the concept of the #goodlife that I dreamed of in my childhood? …2/21

..& will it be favored by unborn generations? It seems we are letting a certain type of tech vision take over.
Let me try to look behind that future that seems to be favored now:
As I see it the few leading tech companies now are mainly white men in their 30‘s & 40‘s … 3/21

… who grew up in #1980s in often well-off middle class families. Probably looked up at the rich & famous as having the #power living in “#freedom” & do as the please. At that time the western political world of e.g. #Ronald_Reagan & #Maggie_Thatcher turned towards…4/21

…economic theories of #Friedman & #neoliberalism, based on believing a thriving #economy needs #freeTrade with little to none #governmental interference. #entrepreneurs worked for pers. profit, believing it automatically would be for the common good - slogan: “I” & less … 5/21

… “We”! Leading to today, where success & purpose seems to mean to afford a #glamorous lifestyle, sell yourself, get followers & by #financial gain become influential & powerful. Many want to be famous to feel important & have power over others / the public … 6/21

…What visions do the ones with tech & #financial power have? Will they offer us more distraction via digital tools & make us more dependent on them? What is a meaningful #life in that #future / what is its #purpose?

What do we want / is “our” worthwhile future?… 7/21

… to me there is a gap between their definition of success & my own: Having grown up in similar circumstances - which when globally compared is a privilege - my upbringing offered a different mindset: selfishness was a vice. Key was #fairness & #respect for everyone &… 8/21

…every living being. #Success was to not only lookout for myself but as well for others. Try to give & take as fairly as possible. Which can mean to work without profit but the belief that it is for the good of a cause (& yes, has been taken advantage of!) Also i do .. 9/21

… strongly believe in #democracy as a tool to achieve #equality for all (yes, it needs be improved).

I do worry: the tech mindset seems to offer an #ideology favoring #oligarchy & #fascism. Moreover, it receives broad approval, which I reject! As it connects the above … 10/21

…with the neoliberal mindset that wants #nations & #governments to become obsolete & companies to take over their role to “guide” the public. In this vision aren’t we left to the will of a few that feel almost like gods - forcing their (tech) vision … 11/21

… of a “good life” on us?
Or is this digital lifestyle /#transhumanism really better or are we on the verge of it?
Call me old fashion, I sometimes like my #analog life & able to turn everything off! On the other hand the #digital convenience is enticing. But I don’t …12/21

… want to live in a world that solely is ruled tech-com’s profit margins.
Maybe we already live in a digital future as the vision is becoming the present? (Is my PoV warped as I don’t understand the goodness of it?)
Am I really just one of a few or are we many, who … 13/21

… would like to see that tech-gurus & profiteers pay their dues for making profit with our data; pay taxes for using the infrastructure that is provided by the means of regular taxpayers? Are there more, that also would like to see those companies & their #leaders to … 14/21

…understand that without us buying & using their #services they would be nonexistent?

What is needed to change the logic of e.g. #financial_market makes #money by betting & speculating on #food, #water, #housing, #energy & other necessities of life? Don’t few profit & … 15/21

… others suffer, because profit margins are not returned to the source that generates financial gain: The public - us, you & I, the ordinary person hustling to make a living. Are we already laughed at for taking up every digital trend?
Is it too much to ask for that … 16/21

…people who have a leadership role have empathy & take on responsibility for their actions? An idea: what if larger companies that provide us with services, communication, goods for daily life etc, instead of going public to cater to shareholders & the CEOs become … 17/21

…e.g Co-operative - belonging to their employees (Ger: Genossenschaft)?
What other options are there? How can we all shape the #futures that encourages fairness - Futures where people respect each other; where the #northern #hemisphere of the #globe doesn’t live… 18/21

…on the shoulders of the #southern hemisphere!?
How can we accomplish that the values that are needed for a “#good_life” for all are realized?
Yet, some ideas & futures vision may not be easy to achieve & some not so convenient. They may have slower decision-making, …19/21

…a slower pace, less glamour. This may give us back time: for more analog #human interaction & more understanding that people are just part of #nature …

My personal #utopia is a future where e.g. #money is not #omnipresent & godlike but only the means to trade real … 20/21

…goods. A world in which we can #trust each other as exploitation brings no advantages; where we feel #safe to be who we are as people #respect even each other’s oddities … I know, it is a #dream - but if I stopped hoping I might as well be gone … 21/end
#FuturesLiteracy #weQ