Sicilianews24.it: Gli effetti negativi della scarsa informazione sul benessere collettivo della società moderna.

L’Importanza dell’Informazione come Infrastruttura Civica
L’articolo “L’informazione come infrastruttura civica—e come la filantropia può supportare l’ecosistema” rappresenta una riflessione fondamentale sull’impatto dell’informazione nel nostro contesto sociale. La filantropia è tradizionalmente orientata verso soluzioni dirette come la conservazione delle terre o l’innovazione tecnologica, ma spesso ignora l’ambiente informativo fragile su cui queste soluzioni si basano. Senza dati credibili e verificati, si crea un “gap informativo” che consente danni ambientali di passare inosservati e mina il controllo pubblico necessario per garantire responsabilità normativa e di mercato.

Un Ecosistema Informativo Fragile
Il divario informativo non riguarda solo la diffusione di notizie false, ma si manifesta anche come indifferenza verso l’accuratezza e fatica nell’affrontare temi complessi. Anche dove i fatti ci sono, spesso viaggiano male: giungono tardi e privi di contesto, con la loro credibilità compromise prima ancora di raggiungere il pubblico. Questa situazione porta non solo a disaccordi, ma più frequentemente a un disimpegno generale.
Per i donatori preoccupati per il cambiamento climatico, la perdita di biodiversità, la salute pubblica o la governance democratica, questo crollo delle fondamenta mette a rischio anche i programmi meglio finanziati. Progetti ben progettati possono fallire nel guadagnare traction perché l’ambiente informativo sottostante è cambiato. In particolare, le iniziative che dipendono da una vigilanza pubblica e da una risposta di mercato richiedono la disponibilità di informazioni affidabili e utilizzabili.
L'articolo Gli effetti negativi della scarsa informazione sul benessere collettivo della società moderna. sembra essere il primo su Sicilianews24.it.

The negative effects of a lack of information on the collective well-being of modern society.

The Importance of Information as a Civic Infrastructure

The article “Information as a Civic Infrastructure—and How Philanthropy Can Support the Ecosystem” represents a fundamental reflection on the impact of information in our social context. Philanthropy is traditionally oriented towards direct solutions such as land conservation or technological innovation, but often ignores the fragile information environment upon which these solutions are based. Without credible and verified data, a “information gap” is created that allows environmental damage to go unnoticed and undermines the public oversight necessary to ensure regulatory and market accountability.

A Fragile Information Ecosystem

The information gap is not only about the spread of false news, but also manifests as indifference to accuracy and difficulty in addressing complex issues. Even where the facts exist, they often travel poorly: they arrive late and without context, with their credibility compromised before they reach the public. This situation leads not only to disagreements, but more frequently to a general disengagement.
For donors concerned about climate change, biodiversity loss, public health, or democratic governance, this collapse of the foundations puts at risk even the best-funded programs. Well-designed projects can fail to gain traction because the underlying information environment has changed. In particular, initiatives that depend on public oversight and market response require the availability of reliable and usable information.
The article "The Negative Effects of Poor Information on the Collective Well-being of Modern Society" appears to be the first on Sicilianews24.it.

#CivicInfrastructure #Information #CivicInfrastructure #Philanthropy #ModernSociety #first

https://www.sicilianews24.it/gli-effetti-negativi-della-scarsa-informazione-sul-benessere-collettivo-della-societa-moderna-824669.html

“What wonder that gigantic corporations employ their enormous wealth and the highest legal talent to strain the laws to their upmost! What wonder that ill-gotten fortunes menace the liberties of the people!”

Tech billionaires are building a post-democratic America. Francesca Bria and a team of researchers supported by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES, the oldest political foundation in Germany) warn that Europe is next…

In late July 2025, deep within the Pentagon’s bureaucratic machinery, the U.S. Army quietly signed away a piece of its sovereignty.

A ten-billion-dollar contract with Palantir Technologies—one of the largest in the Department of Defense’s history—was framed as a move toward “efficiency.”

It consolidated seventy-five procurement agreements into a single contract: a strategic handover of core military functions to a private company whose founder, Peter Thiel, has declared that “freedom and democracy are no longer compatible.”…

… J.D. Vance, propelled to the vice-presidency by $15 million from Peter Thiel, became the face of tech-right governance. Behind him, Thiel’s network moved into the machinery of the state.

Under the banner of “patriotic tech“, this new bloc is building the infrastructure of control—clouds, AI, finance, drones, satellites—an integrated system we call the Authoritarian Stack. It is faster, ideological, and fully privatized: a regime where corporate boards, not public law, set the rules.

Our investigation shows how these firms now operate as state-like powers—writing the rules, winning the tenders, and exporting their model to Europe, where it poses a direct challenge to democratic governance…

[Bria an the team use elegant interactive infographics to map and explain the what’s happened so far in the U.S, then turns to Europe…]

… By mid-2025, its reverberations were already felt across Europe. In Rome, Italian defense officials moved to integrate Elon Musk’s Starlink into military communications. In Berlin, Rheinmetall and Anduril expanded their joint venture to deploy autonomous drone swarms for NATO. The German variants of its drones still run on Californian code. Musk livestreams with the AfD’s Alice Weidel, endorsing the German far-right while supplying NATO infrastructure.

In London, the NHS scaled Palantir’s £330 million Federated Data Platform across tens of millions of patient records, By May 2025, the government had to pay KPMG £8 million just to encourage hospital adoption. Meanwhile, a £1.5 billion defense partnership binds Britain to Palantir’s AI systems.

None of these decisions provoked real debate. Few reached front pages. Together, they reveal the systematic outsourcing of European sovereignty to American oligarchs whose ideology openly undermines democracy.

It is a paradox with devastating implications: pursuing digital sovereignty while ceding control through every signed contract.

Each new contract deepens the trap. Once Palantir becomes indispensable, once Anduril’s drones are NATO standard, once nuclear facilities power AI that runs everything else— the transformation is irreversible. Europe faces an existential choice: build genuine technological sovereignty now, or accept governance by platforms whose architects view democracy as an obsolete operating system.

Silicon Valley’s Authoritarian Tech Right is not theorizing this world. They are already building it. The pipelines are operational. The feedback loops are functioning. The sovereignty transfers are completing.

Democracy persists as a legacy interface— maintained for stability, while being systematically hollowed out and replaced.

The question now is whether democratic societies can recognize this formation for what it is—and build alternatives before the infrastructure of control becomes too deeply embedded to dislodge…

Eminently worth reading in full: “The Authoritarian Stack,” @francescabria.bsky.social, @fesonline.bsky.social.

* President Theodore Roosevelt, in his 1907 “Provincetown Speech“

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As we reclaim the rudiments of our republic, we might recall that it was on this date in 1970 that The Magic Christian premiered in the U.S. (having premiered in London two months earlier). Starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr (with appearances by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Raquel Welch, Spike Milligan, Christopher Lee, Richard Attenborough and Roman Polanski), it was a scathing farce/satire of capitalism, greed, and human vanities, based on Terry Southern‘s 1959 novel of the same name.

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🗳️ Democracy isn’t only defended at the ballot box — it’s maintained and modernized in code.

Episode 2 of our Civic Tech series: Public by Design, explores how Europe’s policies fuel open civic tech, shared platforms, and democratic trust. From Helsinki’s OmaStadi to Barcelona’s Decidim, Europe is building digital democracy in public.

🎥 Watch the short film: https://youtu.be/GyZrq1PujIU
📖 Read: https://redefine.pt/2025/08/16/horizon-europe-civic-tech-future-democracy/

#CivicTech #Digitaldemocracy #CivicInfrastructure #OpenSource #EU

Empathy isn’t just kindness. It’s civic infrastructure — the wiring that keeps trust, governance, health, and innovation running.

When it erodes, so does democracy. When we build it, societies thrive. 🌍✨

Read the full piece:https://redefine.pt/2025/08/15/empathy-as-civic-infrastructure/

#Empathy #CivicInfrastructure #SocialCohesion #Democracy #Governance #SocialChange #Trust #society

Cycling infrastructure - Build it and they will come.

#BikeTooter #Cycling #CivicInfrastructure #Meme

The book #powerbroker is here, let’s see if we will join in the podcast rhythm of the fabulous 99% invisible podcast #99pi

Anyone here interested in #UrbanDesign, #CityPlanning and #CivicInfrastructure joining as well?

https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/breaking-down-the-power-broker/