Is this the future we dreamed of?
Wasn’t technology supposed to serve the many, not enrich the few? Wasn't AI supposed to bring about a life of collective prosperity and security? Cyberpunk and sci-fi tales were warnings, not blueprints for the future. How did unchecked tech and corporate greed lead to this devastation?
Is dystopia already here?
Neo-robber baron billionaires, like their 19th-century predecessors, amassed obscene wealth by dismantling public institutions and infrastructures, exploiting labor, nature, our attention and privatizing everything from space to public health to communication, all while paying little to no taxes. Bezos and Musk aren’t just taking joyrides into space for fun; they’re breaking democracy, shredding safety nets for marginalized communities worldwide and extracting even more wealth and power.
But recent record-breaking turnouts for Bernie Sanders, AOC and Jasmine Crockett and the anti-oligarchy movement that’s sweeping the U.S. mean that millions of people are ready to not only fight back and resist, but also to reimagine what’s possible.
Join UCLA Professor Ramesh Srinivasan and acclaimed science fiction author, activist and journalist Cory Doctorow for a talk and conversation rooted in technology, urgency and possibility.
Or maybe it’s a strategy session on how to build a sustained, collective movement that channels our dissatisfaction into change and actions we can take toward a pro-planet, pro-people future.
We’ll break bread – not democracy – together after the talk.
