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Tech Bros Threaten to Make Serfs of Us All

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By: James Marriott
On: The Times

In this piece on the tech oligarchy and modern “serfdom” Joel Kotkin is cited by the author, excerpted below:

In the past few years, a number of writers have wondered whether the rise of powerful tech companies heralds not unlimited social progress but the return of our species to its default social organisation.

The most electrifyingly gloomy of them is Joel Kotkin, whose 2020 book The Coming of Neo-Feudalism provocatively suggested that society was already beginning to slip back towards the feudalism of the Middle Ages. Where the power of medieval elites rested on the control of land on which serfs toiled, Kotkin argues modern tech oligarchs monopolise the “digital territory” on which modern workers depend for their survival. Rather than rotating crops on fields owned by the lord of the manor, “digital serfs” labour on tech platforms, selling goods on Amazon, taking delivery instructions from apps such as Uber or serving up content for Google or YouTube.

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Joel Kotkin Talks with J.G. Michael About the New Eugenics on Parallax View Podcast

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By: J.G. Michael, Producer
On: Parallax Views Podcast

On this edition of Parallax Views, urban theorist Joel Kotkin, author of The New Class Conflict and The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class, to discuss his provocative UnHerd article, “Beware the New Eugenics.” Together, they explore how today’s tech billionaires and Silicon Valley elites are reviving dangerous eugenic ideas—not through government programs, but through cutting-edge AI, gene editing, cloning, and transhumanist ideology. Read more

Joel Kotkin Featured — Leaders on the Frontier

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By: John David Leis
On: Leaders on the Frontier

Is the Canadian dream dying before our eyes? David Leis and urban affairs writer Joel Kotkin expose how rising housing costs, shrinking home ownership, and bad energy policies are creating a new kind of serfdom—where the middle class is squeezed out and the elites tighten their grip.

Why are young Canadians locked out of homeownership? Is the government quietly killing economic freedom? And could global agendas be turning Canada into a testing ground for top-down control?

This episode will change how you see Canada’s future—and why now is the time to fight back.

Click to Watch

 

Related:

The Death of the Family Home is Killing the Middle Class

Locked Out of the Dream: Regulation Making Homes Unaffordable Around the World

Building the Future: Fixing the Global Housing Crisis

Joel Kotkin Talks with Rod and Greg About Collapse of Green Agenda

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By: Eric Ray, Producer
On: The Rod and Greg Show

Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University, joins Rod and Greg for a conversation about his piece for The Spectator on the collapse of the green agenda.

Click Player to Listen

Listen to the Entire Show at iheart

 

Related:

The Climate Has Changed on Climate Change (PDF)

Kotkin Talks About California Housing with Airtalk on LAist

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With: Larry Mantle
On: Airtalk on LAist

Is housing density the answer to CA’s shortage? One urban policy expert, Joel Kotkin, says no Read more

Kotkin Talks About California with Larry Elder

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With: Larry Elder
On: The Larry Elder Show on SNC

Joel Kotkin talks about California politics, demographics, and issues — and contrasts Orange County with other areas of the state. Read the related piece by Joel, that is referenced during this interview. Read more

Joel Kotkin talks with Rod Arquette: Democrats Need New Clinton

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By: Rod Arquette
On: The Rod and Greg Show

Joel Kotkin, Professor of Urban Studies at Chapman University, joins Rod and Greg for a conversation about his piece for Unherd on how the Democrat Party needs a new Bill Clinton.

Just as the Democrats absorbed the lessons of 1980, readjusting their message, returning to the White House, and ultimately dominating the political scene until Trump’s first victory in 2016 — so too must their modern successors relearn the practical policies that made their forebears so potent.

Listen to the Episode (Joel’s conversation starts at 24:16)

 

Related:

Democrats Need a New Clinton

Kotkin on World Week: Biden on Steroids

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By: World Week

On: Die Weltwoche (Listen to episode)

Urs Gehriger interviews Joel Kotkin to discuss what the United States could look like under a President Harris:

Kotkin: If you look at who has benefited under Biden, unless there there is a massive downturn, there’ll be the same people that will benefit under Harris, people who own stock and property.

The interesting divide in the selection among the oligarchs is those concerned in media, in social media, in AI, on the information side, are overwhelmingly for Harris. The people who actually build things tend to be for Trump.

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Kotkin on KFI News

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By: John Kobylt Podcast

On: KFI News – This Just In (Listen to episode)

John Kobylt invites Joel Kotkin to discuss his recent piece in Unherd on the decline of Los Angeles, i.e., The City of Angels.
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Kotkin on The Ricochet Podcast

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By: Charles C.W. Cooke, James Lileks & Steve Hayward

On: The Ricochet Podcast (Listen to episode)

The contemporary social planner seems to favor all sorts of peoples’ movements—except for the kind that involves automobiles, driven by citizens away from dense urban cores into the suburbs that they can afford. Today, Joel Kotkin (author of The Human City and The Coming of Neo-Feudalism) joins the podcast to discuss the new class of urbanists who brim with ideas for a city that won’t work for the people meant to occupy them.

Plus, Steve, James and Charlie quibble over Tuesday’s debate, and they reflect on yet another 9/11 anniversary.

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