Thread by @_alice_evans

“Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity” is a terrific new book by @DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene

Now, I have an idea!

Read the book, share your questions, & let’s collectively grill Daron Acemoglu in my podcast next month! #bookclub 🔥

In my opinion, this is the best book @DAcemogluMIT has written because it really engages with culture, eg on how

- churches legitimised medieval exploitation
- white Americans normalised Jim Crow
- the power of charisma, and how
- we can rethink our vision of technology

On #charisma, this book rocked my priors.

Previously, I gave more credit to big structural forces.

But @DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene demonstrate the importance of skilled oratory & ideological persuasion.

That’s a key part of their argument.

They insist change is possible.

‘Vision’ is also central.

@DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene argue that the direction of progress depends on society’s ‘vision’: how should society be organised? what’s acceptable?

‘Vision’ is thus an ideological battle of persuasion.

This emphasis on ‘vision’ is very different from Why Nations Fail and The Narrow Corridor

- which largely implied that each group wants to advance their self-interest and they’re more able to do so if they’re strong and unified.

Inequalities may go unquestioned.

@DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene argue that rich people command higher status, which makes them more persuasive.

That ideological power is reinforced by institutions, which entrench elite wealth.

So our vision remains influenced by rich elites.

Let me give the example of Trump:

Some people venerate wealth & perceive him as a great businessman. This heightens his ideological power.

As DA & SJ argue, as more people listen, he gains status & success.

In Alabama, white people referred to him as ‘our president’.

Economics is another example

@DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene argue how the reverence for Economists like Milton Friedman and the Chicago school strengthened their ideological power & social influence.

Likewise (almost) everyone bought the line that “banks must be bailed out”.

Ideological persuasion is not only vested in charismatic leaders and thinkers but also popular culture.

The film “Birth of a Nation” fostered racist stereotypes and increased hate crimes across the US aeaweb.org/articles?id=10…

So culture is not set in stone.

It is malleable

Having made the case for charisma & ideological persuasion, @DAcemogluMIT & @baselinescene argue that technology *can* be redirected.

People could be convinced to rethink the social bias of technology & demand that it is regulated in ways that promote productivity & prosperity.

Are they right??

Tbh, I think it’s an upward struggle.

Google is already using AI to enhance its corporate power - argues @parismarx.

By scraping together answers from around the web, Google keeps users on its page and monopolises advertising revenue. disconnect.blog/p/google-wants…