The Butlerian Handbook to Surviving the Digital World in the Age of Tech Billionaires
Digital technology is in a bad shape. The internet is really sick. But it is not hopeless. There are ways to heal it. I've been trying lately. You can too. Here is how.
Digital technology is in bad shape. The Internet that we used to love and cherish is seriously sick and under constant attack from people who don't have our best interests at heart.
I see more and more people being hopeless about this situation, resigning themselves to being the digital slaves of technological products that suck up our souls while creating an oligarchy whose intentions are destructive at best. I see more and more people realizing this and simply leaving the social web, and having a presence on the web, when they are the people who should be more active on it!
Here is the thing, it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom. There are ways to make digital technology and the Internet a better place. There are ways to take control back!
What I noticed is that sometimes, the biggest hurdle for people to leave the toxic part of the internet and to realize that they have a choice is awareness.
Many people simply don't know that it's not inevitable. Many of those who do know think it's "too difficult" or that it's only for tech people and other experts.
Guess what? I'm not an expert. I'm not even a tech person (full disclosure: I may be a little more tech-literate than the average person, but believe me, I'm not a tech person.)
What I am is someone you also can become.
With this "Butlerian Handbook to Surviving the Digital World in the Age of Tech Billionaires," I want to show you how I've fended off the enshittification of my digital life. But more importantly, I want to show you how you can do it too.
In this handbook, you will find posts showing you how to replace certain "big tech" services you've been using for years with saner, more useful ones. These are services where you're in control, not the billionaire who owns them. You will also find posts to help you break free from American tech companies as much as possible. In this day and age, it's dangerous for us all to depend on them as much as we do. (And if you're reading these lines and you're an American citizen, don't take it personally. This isn't an attack on you. Quite the contrary; I believe American citizens need to untether themselves from much of their national technology too. In this day and age, it can even be a matter of personal safety for you, even more than for us, non-Americans.) You will also find various thoughts, announcements, and links on the topic.
My goal is simply to raise awareness of these possibilities and help improve your life, at least the part of your life that happens on the internet.
Read the Butlerian Handbook to Surviving the Digital World in the Age of Tech Billionaires:
David Billa
Why a "Butlerian" handbook?
It's a reference to Frank Herbert's book Dune. In the Dune universe's history, there was a time (in the past compared to the main narrative, but in the future compared to our present) when a series of events called the Butlerian Jihad occurred. During these events, humans revolted against computers and other automated and "thinking" machines. More precisely, they revolted against other humans who used computers and artificial intelligence to oppress their fellow humans.
One misconception about the Butlerian Jihad is that it is anti-technology. It is not. The clearest explanation comes from this quote in the book:
“Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them.”
The enemy of the people are not the machines. Our enemies are the men and women (but "strangely" it's mostly men) who want to enslave us thanks to those machines.
Do I want a Butlerian Jihad?
I hope it doesn't come to that, but the only way to avoid both such a war and our enslavement is to break our chains now while we still can. This is my intent with these posts.
Further readings:
Here is a list of people and websites that you should read and subscribe to if you think it's time to sever your ties from all the platforms and technologies that aim to enslave you one way or the other, and more generally speaking if you want to think about the social, political, psychological effects of digital tech.
Paris Marx
Elena Rossini
Cory Doctorow