Nick Srnicek and the accelerationists saw the Cambridge Analytica scandal coming a long time ago. Last year in August, in The Guardian, Srnicek called for the nationalisation of Google, Amazon and Facebook calling them “too big” to ever serve public interest. The Guardian, in May last year called it a fringe philosophy but also gave to its imperative relevance in today’s social media world. The recent scandal has taken everyone by surprise, but it shouldn’t because this was always coming. What should surprise people is how far behind they stand in terms of information about the digital data world and their own data. So what are the accelerationists? As Andy Beckett wrote for The Guardian:
Accelerationists argue that technology, particularly computer technology, and capitalism, particularly the most aggressive, global variety, should be massively sped up and intensified – either because this is the best way forward for humanity, or because there is no alternative. Accelerationists favour automation. They favour the further merging of the digital and the human. They often favour the deregulation of business, and drastically scaled-back government. They believe that people should stop deluding themselves that economic and technological progress can be controlled. They often believe that social and political upheaval has a value in itself.
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