Mastodawn

pillarist Oct 22

1/ A longtime Wired editor just wrote a mush-brained essay about how he totally missed the political rot of Silicon Valley (& still doesn't get it). But in the late 1990s, a Wired journalist warned of a toxic ideology bubbling up from tech. Paulina Borsook has largely been erased. Let's change that

Gil Durán Sep 24

2/ In 2001, Borsook said tech "libertarianism" reflected an adolescent mindset, with a craving for unchecked independence & resistance to constraint. She warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer. From "Cyberselfish," a book based on her 90s writing:

Gil Durán Sep 24

3/ Tech fascism in a nutshell: “Computers are so much more rule-based, controllable, fixable, and comprehensible than any human will ever be. As many political schools of thought do, these technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect.“ She wrote this in 2000!

Gil Durán Sep 24

4/ Borsook divided the tech ”libertarians” into two main types: the Ravers and the Gilders. The Ravers are the ones who go to Burning Man and project countercultural ideas. The Gilders are the Peter Thiel types, more overtly focused on money and power. But they are birds of a feather.

Gil Durán Sep 24

5/ Borsook warned that “cypherpunk” paranoia about government intrusion was leading them to create “a society where there is ever more surveillance and computer-retrievable information about people's private lives.” Sound familiar?

Gil Durán Sep 24

6/ Borsook described “paranoid” anti-government rantings and a tech libertarian culture in which the “gestalt is of testosterone-poisoned guys with chips on their shoulders and too much time on their hands.” And soon, these guys would morph into multi-billionaires...

Gil Durán Sep 24

7/ During a decade in which the USA's favorite “tech critics” were busy shining the shoes of people like Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel, Borsook saw very clearly where things were headed. Because these things were obvious by the late 90s, at least to journalists like Borsook.

Gil Durán Sep 24

8/ Unfortunately, “Cyberselfish“ predicted the future but did not sell well. Borsook's writing career hit the rocks as tech fortunes skyrocketed astronomically in the 2000s. She is now elderly, disabled and struggling to survive as the rest of the world finds out what she knew a long time ago.

Gil Durán Sep 24

9/ I had launch with Paulina Borsook last month in Oakland. Her life is hard, but she still has a lot to say! She's trying to raise funds to get a new version of the book reissued on the Internet Archive. Some of her friends have a running GoFundMe to support her: www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...

Donate to Help Paulina Borsook...

Donate to Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist, organized by paul Carter

Paulina's long time friend Steve Rappaport writes, "Support P… paul Carter needs your support for Help Paulina Borsook: disabled writer, artist, activist

gofundme.com

Gil Durán Sep 24

10/ Instead of centering men who missed the boat (and still don't seem to get it), let's lift up the work of Paulina Borsook, who saw it all very clearly and tried to warn us 25 years ago. Someone should do a profile of her very interesting life. And hey, let's drop some cash into her GoFundme!

Gil Durán Sep 24

11/ There are still some copies available, but this book deserves a reissue with a introduction by somebody famous.

Gil Durán Sep 24

12/ In addition to being a prescient writer, Borsook had a pretty eventful and amazing life, and survived being shot in the head at the age of 14.

Gil Durán Sep 24

13/ Paulina will definitely be in my book, but she deserves proper recognition in a major publication profile. I would do it, but I am writing a book. Someone should be beat me to it! I came across her work in the first chapter of the late David Golumbia's "Cyberlibertarianism."

Gil Durán Sep 24

14/ She recently helped launch a new magazine, In|Formation, and wrote some pieces. informationmagazine.com

In Formation Magazine

In Formation Magazine

Every day, computers are making people easier to use. The cult magazine about what tech is doing to us is back after 25 years.

In Formation Magazine - Every day, computers are making people easier to use.

Gil Durán Sep 24

15/ Part of the reason we are in this mess today is because tech "critics" can get very rich and successful by conveniently ignoring the ugliest realities of Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, writers like Paulina—who challenge power rather than serve it—end up out in the cold.

Gil Durán Sep 24

cc: @katie-drummond.bsky.social

Bandit 🏴‍☠️Nov 28

thanks for this thread. very good!

Violet Madder Nov 28

This is what the Patrick Batemans of American Psycho have metasticized into since the 80s. I am still blown away that more people didn't see it coming.

@gilduran.com Thank you for this thread! Even the preview of In|Formation hits hard: "Every day, computers are making people easier to use."

Exactly this. Computers have seized to be the tools which humans use. Instead, they've become a way to only give us exactly the information, rights and means to partake in those billionaire's enrichment as tools ourselves.

@gilduran.com Ping Cory?

Brilliant thread. Massively important. Thanks!

I quit IT already having 50% of previous income. I'm poor (in comparison to my peers) but it's worth it.

Was never a "public" figure, me, so not cancelled - perhaps self-cancelled. I feel for her.

@gilduran.com sounds like a foreword by @pluralistic would be fitting

Felicitas Macgilchrist Oct 30

@gilduran.com I just bought this! Thanks for bringing it up again.

Orrock LXXXVI XLVII Nov 28

@gilduran.com Where does Kara Swisher fit in to this? I see her as a cool analyzer. Would like to know your thoughts.

@gilduran.com I'm specifically only commenting on this one post, the rest I pretty much agree with.
From a german perspective, it's not paranoia about government intrusion as there's more than one example in living memory here.

I hope the book gets reissued, I'm pretty sure it would be impossible to find a copy in Europe otherwise.

Charlie Stross Nov 27

@gilduran.com I assume "Gilders" is a reference to George Gilder, who is barking mad (and also co-founded the notorious Discovery Institute): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Gilder

George Gilder - Wikipedia

Orrock LXXXVI XLVII Nov 28

@gilduran.com great closing clause!

Seán Fenian Nov 27

@[email protected] I've come to understand that the core tenet of American Libertarianism is "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!!!"

Libertarians don't want anybody else to be able to tell them what to do or not do. They want their freedom to act with complete disregard for anyone else's needs. "Screw you, Jack, I've got mine."

In many ways, the dystopian game Bioshock is the endgame of American libertarianism.

Karl Auerbach Sep 24

@gilduran.com Wow, that is a name, Paulina Borsook, that I have not heard in a while (at least not since my days of involvement in internet governance in the years 2000 +/- 5 years.

@gilduran.com money causes rot brain that's why i try to have as little as possible of it