
The Next Backlash Is Going to Be Against Technology - ekovarski
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/25/the-next-backlash-is-going-to-be-against-technology-dani-rodrik-trade-interview/
======
manfredo
Only one paragraph seems to be directly related to the headline:

> I think that the next backlash is going to be against technology. We’ve seen
> the backlash against globalization. If anything, the dislocations and the
> adverse labor market implications of artificial intelligence, automation,
> new digital technologies—the impacts of those will be even larger. If we
> persist on a path that is creating highly divided societies, in terms of
> income and social status, in terms of who gets access to the political
> system, I think the pitchforks, to use your term, might be coming out for
> technology, and that would obviously be both economically and politically
> very dangerous.

What would trigger the proverbial pitchforks to come out? Unemployment is one,
but unemployment has continued to stay low despite the economy becoming more
automated. Generally speaking, automation displaces specific fields of work
but does not case greater unemployment in aggregate. I think the perception
that some companies, especially big social platforms, are politically
manipulating content or consistently enforcing rules in a partisan manner is
another factor that could elicit the brandishing of pitchforks - hopefully in
a metaphorical sense. My last answer would be egregious violation of privacy
but hack after hack happens and leak after leak happens with only short-term
outrage - so I don't think this is a concern.

In conclusion, I'm still not sure what kind of issue would most feasibly
trigger a backlash against technology. Not to mention, I think phrasing this
as a backlash "against technology" is too broad to be effective. Most people
when they think of "technology" think FAANG, self driving cars, and social
media. That's really just a fraction of "technology".

------
mr_toad
Next? Tech is already the whipping boy de rigueur.

------
nostrademons
The tech backlash started 5+ years ago (2013) with the Snowden disclosures.

The next backlash will be against _institutions_ , and it started with Brexit
& Trump's election in 2016. Interestingly, the response to Trump's election
wasn't to defend the institutions (universities, the media, Congress, the FBI)
which he attacks. Rather, it's to tear down _different_ institutions -
borders, ICE, police, the presidency, capitalism. There are relatively few
people interested in defending institutions - mostly just neoliberals and
Never-Trump conservatives, and they are dramatically outnumbered.

~~~
manfredo
I disagree. Back then, people had a generally positive opinion about tech
companies, Facebook and Twitter being held as examples of catalysts for
democratic progress (being active in the Arab Spring, but that went sour
later). Tech companies were seen as the victims of government overreach -
being forced at metaphorical gunpoint to give up user info without a warrant.
While there may have been some criticism of tech companies that supposedly
bent over too easily, the primary villain in the Snowden saga was the NSA,
secret courts, and other government agencies carrying out mass surveillance.

I think that's a big contrast to the situation today, where people are being
called on to uninstall Facebook and Uber. YouTube, Twitter, and Patreon are
criticized for uneven enforcement of their content policy (e.g. "learn to
code" being a ban-worthy offense when directed to a journalist but not to
others) and some countries are outright blocking social media platforms.

