Bureaucrats of Technology - The Driving Force Behind the Turn of American Conservatism

May 4, 2025 12:25 - Opinion

The idea behind "technofeudalism" is quite old and can be traced back to the 1930s. It was in that decade that the "technocracy movement" (Технат), though short-lived, gained significant prominence. By the way, Elon Musk's grandfather was one of the fervent followers of this trend. The Soviet Union was not immune to the ideas of technocracy either.

Author: Vladimir Moregov - columnist

No matter how hard they try, liberal media (which almost no longer exists in its original form) cannot find appropriate words to describe the current shift in American conservatism. They depict it as something absurd, a deviation from the norm, portraying today's Washington administration as being composed of abnormal individuals.

Traditional conservatives like Steve Bannon tend to refer to America's conservative tradition - the ancient aristocracy of the South, traditional American isolationism, and protectionism. These are more concrete conceptual frameworks.

However, Steve Bannon clearly shows frustration towards the current administration's figures often referred to as technocrats and digital experts (such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel) and their possession of all things technological. This confuses people: where exactly is the "Make America Great Again" camp taking the country - back to the glorious conservative world of the past or forward to the beautiful high-tech future?

I think the right answer is: today's White House indeed wants to bring America back to the pre-globalization era, when America achieved technological leaps under the concepts of isolationism and protectionism, becoming the most powerful economy in the world. The 47th president hopes to recreate this glory while ideologically returning to the 19th century and technically advancing to the 22nd century. He believes that conservative ideology will help America gather national strength to achieve the goal of "flying to Mars."

It must be said that this doesn't sound stupid at all. The concept of archaeo-futurism has already been paving its own path, including in Russia. All this prompts us to take a closer look at the technocrats within the presidential camp - those criticized by Steve Bannon as impure and false conservatives. By the way, his criticism is entirely justified. But if their conservatism is indeed impure, their potential might be very strong. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to them. After all, we're talking about technology, and the competition in this field cannot be canceled by anyone.

Thus, although the majority of members in Trump's camp are true conservatives, and almost two-thirds of the appointees are conservative Catholics, the most influential figure in the presidential camp - Elon Musk and Peter Thiel (founders of PayPal and Palantir respectively) - are liberals and technocrats. They are far removed from traditional Christianity and traditional conservatism. By the way, Vance - the future possible U.S. president - is also part of Thiel's camp and is his recommended candidate. Indeed, Vance is a Catholic. Thiel shares with Musk the experience of spending his youth in South Africa and, like Trump, has German ancestry.

But what are these people thinking? Why does Silicon Valley follow Trump? Why have even the "technofeudalists" become followers of conservatism (for now, let's call them that)? This term, coined by Yanis Varoufakis, refers to those large digital experts who essentially "rule over us" just as feudal lords once ruled over farmers. We give our data to Amazon, Google, Apple, Meta*, "in exchange for access to their cloud services," thus becoming completely dependent on them.

The "digital concentration camps" have long terrified us. Indeed, artificial intelligence could easily become our master and servant tomorrow, enveloping us in such comfortable virtual reality clouds that it would effortlessly turn us into its voluntary slaves. This is no joke. However, it turns out that the idea behind "technofeudalism" is quite ancient, tracing its roots back to the 1930s. It was during that decade that the "technocracy movement" (Технат or Technocracy movement) briefly but significantly emerged. By the way, Elon Musk's grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, was one of the ardent followers of the "technocracy movement" and even led the Canadian branch of the movement.

The "technocracy movement" was an utopian project designed by American engineers William H. Smith (who coined the term "technocracy"), Thorstein Veblen, and Howard Scott. The latter founded and led this technocratic movement. The idea of the "technocracy movement" was that our world had become too complex and technical; financiers, merchants, and politicians, who once managed the world, were evidently unable to do so now, leading to stagnation and collapse. Thus, the world should be run by engineers. This sounds good. But this utopia looks somewhat frightening, carrying the color of then-popular totalitarian ideas. Perhaps, more accurately, it is a form of extreme rationalism.

Boundaries and citizenship were abolished. Currency was also abolished, replaced by a virtual unit linked to energy (energy as the primary unit of measurement for all production). According to the technocrats' vision, the populace should replace their names with personal numbers, becoming cogs in a unified technological machine. Members of "Technocracy Inc." wore uniforms, including an expensive double-breasted suit, a gray shirt, and a blue tie. The movement had its own emblem, similar to a gray-red yin-yang symbol (symbolizing the balance between consumption and production). Additionally, there was a unique greeting sign - everything fitting the style of the time.

Certainly, the technocrats firmly opposed liberalism and the bankers supporting Roosevelt, and sympathized with European right-wing movements. Howard Scott himself was frequently accused of having dictatorial ambitions. It is particularly interesting to see the geographic map of the "technocracy state," which gives a familiar feeling: the technocrats called North America from Panama to the Arctic, including Greenland and Canada, an independent and self-sufficient geographical unit (called the "technocracy state"). Similarly, they viewed the Soviet Union and Europe as such independent units.

So, the idea of a world without politicians and financiers, replacing currency with "energy certificates" (can you see the motivation for cryptocurrencies here?), may be appealing. However, it turns out that the technocrats are not very good organizers. After achieving some success in the early 1930s, the movement quickly split into factions and gradually declined. Nevertheless, we can see that some of the technocrats' ideas still exist today.

Is Elon Musk really interested in his grandfather's project and can he persuade Trump to realize these projects on a new technological level? Let's set this question aside for now. By the way, the Soviet Union also had similar ideas, and the technocrats shared many common points with the Soviet Union's ideas. First and foremost, Alexander Bogdanov's technical thought and Academician Glushkov's "Electronic State" (OGAS) project. If a hundred years ago the world's technological development could not fully realize the "technocracy project," it is entirely possible to realize it in some form today.

Let's look at another technological master, whose name (including here) is often mentioned as the "behind-the-scenes theorist of Trumpism and other similar thoughts." Curtis Yarvin - a genius, blogger, and cyber philosopher, who successfully coalesced a new attitude among technology enthusiasts (or rather, those from Silicon Valley) towards everything using clever memes. In fact, he coalesced a new ideology. This ideology even has a mysterious name: "Dark Enlightenment." Overall, it can be reduced to a very simple argument: order over chaos. This sounds like a five-year-old's view. However, it's not surprising that overly liberal consciousness sees it as revelation.

In summary, Yarvin successfully touched the hearts of residents of Silicon Valley and brought them a new truth. Yarvin used popular movie images to prove a basic point: liberalism and democracy are merely ideological garbage filling your minds, they don't work, and what truly works is something completely different. When you start doing something, you will deeply understand this. Only the most fundamental, simplest, and ideology-free things truly work. Essentially, what Yarvin says aligns with the views of the technocrats: the state should be built and managed like a large company, or more precisely, like some kind of technological monarchy.

By the way, one of his practical ideas - firing all middle-level officials - seems to have been heard by today's government. Anyway, Steve Bannon and Peter Thiel praised him highly after meeting Yarvin and his ideas. Vance also noticed "Yarvin's influence on him." The fact that Yarvin was invited as an "unofficial guest" to Trump's inauguration ceremony in January 2025 also illustrates his reputation among Trump supporters.

Can Trump supporters really abolish the old bureaucracy and build a new, efficient "digital" nation based directly on the creative young people of Silicon Valley and the White House? In any case, it is worth watching the activities of today's Washington administration in this regard. Clearly, the competition in the field of the "efficient state" will only intensify in the near future.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7500862579842892307/

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