Lately, I’ve written several blogs with the label accelerationism. Its first mention was in a 2017 FT article, which refers to a 2017 Guardian article, which refers to the 1967 book Lord of Light. On 24 May 2017, I wrote Accelerationism (1), following this FT quote: “Imagine that technology and capitalism shift into a higher gear and speed up to cause the maximum disruption.”
In 2017, I had already realised that my 2016 version of the 7 Belief systems (2019 version) needed an overhaul. China never really fitted in my 2016 version. It took me several years to conclude that China was not an outlier but the future direction of the 7 Belief systems. China is also a perfect example of accelerationism.
Today, it seems that the coronavirus is an accelerator to accelerationism. Many people don’t mind that governments use mass surveillance technology for combatting Covid-19. They are more than willing to download corona apps while sacrificing their once cherished privacy. China is, however, way “ahead” of us as it’s using the coronavirus to boost its vast collection of blood samples:
“The police in China are collecting blood samples from men and boys from across the country to build a genetic map of its roughly 700 million males, giving the authorities a powerful new tool for their emerging high-tech surveillance state.” (NYT-2020)
It’s important to realise that accelerationism is an effect rather than a cause. The vacuum in geopolitics and the decoupling efforts may be seen as – temporary – causes, following Trump’s USA. However, there is also a fundamental shift from trialism towards dualism (my blogs), and onwards to monism (my blogs) that may well relate to the Strauss-Howe generational cycle.
Monism creates a very powerful combination of three belief systems, being Data/Info (eg, Big Data), Money (eg, Big Money = Big Data + Big Tech), and Technology (eg, Big Tech, my 2019 blog). These three beliefs define the Power dimension of the 7 Belief systems (2019).
Today, we are witnessing that building power creates fear. Increasingly, international fear over powerful China is causing a fight response (last Friday’s blog). This fight response is joining the end of yet another Strauss-Howe generational cycle. The ending of such a cycle is often marked by military conflict. At times, people need to fight to protect their civil liberties and rights.
(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) (1987) by Beastie Boys
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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