Why Not Technocracy?

If the world was run by scientists and engineers would that be so bad? Decisions would be made by (completely) disinterested teams of experts. A world government might bring universal peace and provide for all our needs (as defined by said government). A cabal of resentful and arrogant nerds endowed with unlimited power – what could go wrong? Tech billionaires know best, don’t they?

Such a technocracy has been imagined before. Technocrats have dreamed of piling everybody into Panopticons or Skinner boxes, establishing soviets of technicians who will promote scientific management to increase efficiency. Bertrand Russell wrote of a world where “all real power will come to be concentrated in the hands of those who understand the art of scientific manipulation.” They will “possess the sole up-to-date armaments, and will be the repository of all new secrets in the art of war.” Furthermore “The society of experts will control propaganda and education.” and “The government, being an oligarchy, will instill submissiveness into the great bulk of the population, confining initiative and the habit of command to its own members.” This future is “only very partially” in agreement with Russell’s wishes. He desires a more exalted place for “splendid individuals” (Russell for example). Technocracy Inc. declared “In a power age of high energy consumption and rapid social and industrial change, democratic ideals and methods have demonstrated themselves to be inadequate. Few individuals, no matter how competent they may be in their own fields, are able to comprehend the intricate and complex problems of our nation today, much less pass accurate judgment upon them.” H. G. Wells proclaimed that “The men of the New Republic will not be squeamish, either, in facing or inflicting death, because they will have a fuller sense of the possibilities of life than we possess. They will have an ideal that will make killing worth the while”. He added: “And for the rest, those swarms of black, and brown, and dirty-white, and yellow people, who do not come into the new needs of efficiency? Well, the world is a world, not a charitable institution, and I take it they will have to go."

The dangers of technocracy have also been imagined by writers like C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley and Rémi Brague.

Here are some interrelated problems with a technocracy:

Elitism

Scientists & engineers make up a small percentage of the global population - few people have the ability and desire to advance in these exacting disciplines - but in a technocracy only scientists & engineers can make decisions. The great mass of people, sloppy and excitable and sentimental as they are, offer only haphazard opinions which must be ignored.

When techno-elites dream they are prodigious figures, giants brushing away the clouds – Colossus bestride the world, Atlas shouldering the heavens. They have all the money. They’ve bought the politicians and the judges. They possess the means to propagate self-serving lies. They are able to watch our every move. Within a few decades they’ll have all the military power too. The machines they control will be able to defeat an unlimited number of mere human soldiers. Soon they won’t need us to labor in their factories or drive their vehicles or mop up their bathrooms. Then what will become of us? How long will they endure our existence on their world? They’ll soon find less troublesome forms of entertainment.

Painting by Futurist Tullio Crali

Reductionism

Scientism, not science, is the cult which sustains technocracy. Distorted images of Darwin and Galileo and Newton and Einstein are the idols to be worshipped. Sacraments include 1) Staring into the cold black dead emptiness of space and 2) Watching with satisfaction as the fit tear apart the unfit. Heretics will be sent to reeducation camps.

For devotees of Scientism only matter which can be measured and categorized is of any significance. We are just sacks of chemicals, accidentally thrown together in a grim and indifferent universe. Concepts like love, loyalty, heroism, tragedy, joy, and freedom are meaningless. If we are just sacks of chemicals why do we merit rights? And why does any human endeavor call for more than an insincere smile and a plastic trophy? The corporate media may talk constantly about freedom and choice, but by freedom and choice they really mean accepting one of a limited set of pre-approved lifestyle templates.

Hedonism

The Tech billionaires want us to be comfortable (at least some of us) as we slide toward oblivion. We are in the process of being reduced to a herd of flatulent swine snoring away in our pens. Eating Cheetos while watching pornography. Shopping online. Ordering pre-chewed sandwiches delivered to our mouths. Watching reruns while lounging on couches until we meld with said couches and become indistinguishable from the stained overstuffed cushions beneath us.

Nothing is surer to bring unhappiness as trying every minute to be happy. People need some kind of goal larger than themselves. But even if we moderns come up with some kind of ersatz goal or ideal to keep us busy the fundamental silliness of our project will sap our resolution.

Entertainment will be suited to the tastes of 15-year-old boys which is appropriate since most people will be 15-year-old boys.

For decades we’ll be involved in some fantasy world featuring us with godlike powers, a world of ever growing complexity, until one day to our great surprise we’ll discover we are mortal.

Degraded, isolated, easily frustrated masses will never be able to mount any serious opposition to the technocracy.

Depopulation

Those who combat climate change are convinced we must cull the human herd, but what of wayward populations that refuse to comply? Force will be necessary to correct their irresponsible and unauthorized breeding.

(Needless to say green activists who wish to decrease the population won’t lead by example and jump out the nearest window, maybe because their lives are so much more precious than ours.)

Conventional biological reproduction should be phased out entirely. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century reproduction still occurs when random individuals form couples willy nilly and engage in physical contact with no regulatory oversight whatsoever. Only licensed reproduction in a hygienic facility should be permitted. All unlicensed coupling will be considered a felony. The reproductive power of women in particular must be managed if not eliminated entirely.

What will our future look like under a technocracy?

First machines will replace human workers, then machines will replace the supervisors, finally we’ll be encouraged to upload our brains, and machines will replace our minds too. Will any of us be left in the end?

As Europe and the United States become dominated by people less inclined toward technophilia, China will begin its reign as the world hegemon. (North Atlantic countries like Britain, France, and the United States had reigned for centuries, but all earthly powers come to an end.) India may well be China’s main competition. The Chinese Empire of Progress may launch spacecraft to explore the galaxy. The Empire may also commence a global eugenics program and forcibly sterilize millions of Africans. The Chinese government shows little mercy to groups which fail to embrace progress with the required ardor.

We’ll be subject to the most acute forms of entertainment, which will saturate our existence and continue with undiminished severity throughout our lives.

Can we stop the High Wizards of technocracy? They can befuddle and tranquilize and spy upon the people and finally deploy legions of robot soldiers to defeat us. Maybe we should ease ourselves into the rule of these bureaucrats and murderers and celebrities. Perhaps we should become obedient subjects. Except for the tyranny and genocide and boredom will technocratic rule be so bad?

Heretofore technocracy has often been half-hearted, existing in imitation of or in competition with Christianity, but what if Christianity fades? What if the undiluted, unapologetic, truly sinister, Luciferian nature of Scientism is made manifest?

As machine probes leave our solar system, they will transmit back a constant stream of data pertaining to planetology and astronomy to be stored in other machines. Back on earth many will complain about the cost of exploration and many will wonder what’s the point of it all. Many will prefer the dark void of celebrityhood

with its fake stars to outer space.

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