Decentralised technology in a left libertarian society
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Where are we now?
Contemporary capitalism with its most extreme expression sometimes defined as "techno-feudalism" sees a concentration of power within massive digital platforms, resulting in extreme inequity and the erosion of democracy.
What can we do about it?
To counteract this extreme centralisation of wealth and power “Techno-Collectivism” is a governance model which integrates libertarian socialist principles with modern technology to manage digital infrastructure. It aims to counteract the systemic failures of neoliberal capitalism while avoiding the authoritarian pitfalls associated with historical socialist regimes. See article…
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Historical and Political Context…
This article clarifies the distinctions between socialism, capitalism, and libertarianism, noting how "libertarianism" has been ideologically captured by right-wing market interests. It advocates returning to the original egalitarian, anti-capitalist, and anti-authoritarian roots of libertarian socialism.
The framework is built upon three ethical principles: needs-based distributive justice, which prioritizes human care over profit; communal ownership, which grants control to those who use the resources; and citizen control, which ensures genuine and meaningful participation.
How?
Technological Implementation Tools To scale up these principles, open-source AI could be used for transparent resource planning as well as decentralized ownership and decision-making, decentralized social media platforms to facilitate federated, autonomous communities.
Universities as Experimental Testbeds The authors propose universities as the ideal environments to pilot these sociotechnical experiments. By utilizing their existing intellectual capital and relative autonomy, academic institutions can lead the shift toward post-capitalist, anti-authoritarian governance models.
