By Isabelle M Santin
Are technology and anarchy compatible with each other? In our modern capitalist society, we live in an era of unprecedented excess; of information, of energy, and of access. Indeed, we can look no further than the development and subsequent commercialization of the open Internet to find what has wrought this massive growth in global connectivity and commerce. At the same time, however, more people have access to more information than ever.
Generation Z, so-called "zoomers" or "internet natives," were the first generation to not only access the Internet, but be born in a world that already heavily relied on its infrastructure for meeting basic daily needs. Consequentially, they are one of the first generations of people in a long time, or perhaps ever, to excel in independent, critical thinking as a result of the relative wealth of information they grew up with. For example, most American teenagers I meet on a regular basis have some kind of complaint about capitalism, and how much the prison-industrial complex totally sucks! That's some pretty Marxist rhetoric to come from someone who has barely entered high school... and of course, we have the Internet to thank (blame?) for that.
Even still, computer networks are just one example of how technology benefits normal, everyday people, even insurrectionists like you and I. It begs the question, how one should even define technology itself as a phenomena? What do we classify as technology, and how do we relate to it? Finally, how do we use the way we think about technology to empower ourselves and our fellow revolutionaries?
The answers lie directly ahead of us... let's jump in!
Technology, put simply, is anything invented by anyone, ever, to overcome a limitation of the human body. It may seem broad, but in reality that is the most general way of thinking about technology. From this perspective, anything from the flint and steel, to the wheel, to the most advanced quantum computers of our day, can be considered technology. But why should we think about it this way? Typically we consider something as simple as a zipper to be a mere tool, or daily aid, not a technology! Isn't technology these days more to do with electronics and voltages and what not, than the bare metal of our cutlery?
I like to define technology so broadly because it allows us to trace back the genesis of technology itself to not just our first human ancestors, but our first pre-human ancestors. Technology isn't some corporate buzzword of the capitalist era, it is our basic heritage as human beings. I consider that in itself to be quite empowering; people can overcome most anything if they're just clever enough to build their way around it. Our creativity and engenuity are as intrinsic to our humanity as the act of telling stories to each other. Technology is effectively the most practical day-to-day application of those traits.
Given this post-humanist perspective of technology, it might make some readers wonder: "How do I relate to technology?"
There-in lies the beauty of technology, the answer to that question. Technology, in its most basic sense, helps us do things that we normally can't. So then, it really depends on what you want or need to do as a unique, self-contradictory human being, how you really relate to technology. The fact is that, technology mostly benefits all of us on a daily basis. Whether it is the wheelchair or hearing aid for our differently abled friends, or the walls of our houses that keep us warm in the winter, and cool in the summer, or even those icky toothbrushes that we use to keep our mouths healthy for years and years, technology empowers us all to not only survive, but live fulfilling, meaningful lives, regardless of the societies within which we are embedded.
A hammer will always drive a nail, a rope will always bear weight, and our clothes will always act to protect and support our bodies. Regardless of whether we live as capitalists, or anarchists, or socialists, or communists. Regardless of how we organize our societies, technology will always, first and foremost, act to benefit the common person.
These days, technology doesn't just help us do stuff, it helps us remember stuff and learn stuff. So we should therefore adapt our definition of technology into two categories, practical and informational. Practical technologies include those such as cars, sewing machines, and the like. They help us do practical things. Informational technologies, on the other hand, help us learn new information, or retain information we already know for ourselves. Note that, depending on who you are, the same piece of information could either be new, or retained, via one such technology. Informational technologies include books, vinyl records, clay tablets, and, yes, computers.
Our societies attempt to control informational technologies in an effort to guard their status, power, and resources. Additionally, they sanction certain practical technologies that they deem "too dangerous" or "too powerful" to stay in the hands of common folk. Institutions covet these technologies for themselves to stay in power, and maintain their inherently corrupt state of control over other people. But we have technology- technology makes us smart, and makes us capable.
The worst thing our nation-states could have ever done for themselves is put an Internet-connected computer in the pocket of most EVERY adult and child on planet Earth; and guess what you're likely reading this article on.... ;)
My fellow insurrectionists, we have the powerful technology, the ability to do things, to move stuff, to build communities. We also have all the knowledge in the world to arm ourselves with. Revolution is go for launch! All that remains is ignition...
This party is about to get lit 🔥
~Isabelle "Izzy" Santin (CC-BY-3.0)
Have a question? Don't know where to look? Try asking Mitzy in the search box below!