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Read this if you want to understand how to shape our technological
future and reinvigorate democracy along the way. -- Reed Hastings,
co-founder and CEO of Netflix __________ A forward-thinking
manifesto from three Stanford professors which reveals how big
tech's obsession with optimization and efficiency has sacrificed
fundamental human values and outlines steps we can take to change
course, renew our democracy, and save ourselves. __________ In no
more than the blink of an eye, a naive optimism about technology's
liberating potential has given way to a dystopian obsession with
biased algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and job-displacing
robots. Yet too few of us see any alternative to accepting the
onward march of technology. We have simply accepted a technological
future designed for us by technologists, the venture capitalists
who fund them, and the politicians who give them free rein. It
doesn't need to be this way. System Error exposes the root of our
current predicament: how big tech's relentless focus on
optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination,
erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we
get. Armed with an understanding of how technologists think and
exercise their power, three Stanford professors - a philosopher
working at the intersection of tech and ethics, a political
scientist who served under Obama, and the director of the
undergraduate Computer Science program at Stanford (also an early
Google engineer) - reveal how we can hold that power to account. As
the dominance of big tech becomes an explosive societal conundrum,
they share their provocative insights and concrete solutions to
help everyone understand what is happening, what is at stake, and
what we can do to control technology instead of letting it control
us.
One of the most far-reaching transformations in our era is the wave
of digital technologies rolling over--and upending--nearly every
aspect of life. Work and leisure, family and friendship, community
and citizenship have all been modified by now-ubiquitous digital
tools and platforms. Digital Technology and Democratic Theory looks
closely at one significant facet of our rapidly evolving digital
lives: how technology is radically changing our lives as citizens
and participants in democratic governments. To understand these
transformations, this book brings together contributions by
scholars from multiple disciplines to wrestle with the question of
how digital technologies shape, reshape, and affect fundamental
questions about democracy and democratic theory. As expectations
have whiplashed--from Twitter optimism in the wake of the Arab
Spring to Facebook pessimism in the wake of the 2016 US
election--the time is ripe for a more sober and long-term
assessment. How should we take stock of digital technologies and
their promise and peril for reshaping democratic societies and
institutions? To answer, this volume broaches the most pressing
technological changes and issues facing democracy as a philosophy
and an institution.
The troubling ethics and politics of philanthropy Is philanthropy,
by its very nature, a threat to today's democracy? Though we may
laud wealthy individuals who give away their money for society's
benefit, Just Giving shows how such generosity not only isn't the
unassailable good we think it to be but might also undermine
democratic values and set back aspirations of justice. Big
philanthropy is often an exercise of power, the conversion of
private assets into public influence. And it is a form of power
that is largely unaccountable, often perpetual, and lavishly
tax-advantaged. The affluent-and their foundations-reap vast
benefits even as they influence policy without accountability. And
small philanthropy, or ordinary charitable giving, can be
problematic as well. Charity, it turns out, does surprisingly
little to provide for those in need and sometimes worsens
inequality. These outcomes are shaped by the policies that define
and structure philanthropy. When, how much, and to whom people give
is influenced by laws governing everything from the creation of
foundations and nonprofits to generous tax exemptions for donations
of money and property. Rob Reich asks: What attitude and what
policies should democracies have concerning individuals who give
money away for public purposes? Philanthropy currently fails
democracy in many ways, but Reich argues that it can be redeemed.
Differentiating between individual philanthropy and private
foundations, the aims of mass giving should be the decentralization
of power in the production of public goods, such as the arts,
education, and science. For foundations, the goal should be what
Reich terms "discovery," or long-time-horizon innovations that
enhance democratic experimentalism. Philanthropy, when properly
structured, can play a crucial role in supporting a strong liberal
democracy. Just Giving investigates the ethical and political
dimensions of philanthropy and considers how giving might better
support democratic values and promote justice.
The troubling ethics and politics of philanthropy Is philanthropy,
by its very nature, a threat to today's democracy? Though we may
laud wealthy individuals who give away their money for society's
benefit, Just Giving shows how such generosity not only isn't the
unassailable good we think it to be but might also undermine
democratic values. Big philanthropy is often an exercise of power,
the conversion of private assets into public influence. And it is a
form of power that is largely unaccountable and lavishly
tax-advantaged. Philanthropy currently fails democracy, but Rob
Reich argues that it can be redeemed. Just Giving investigates the
ethical and political dimensions of philanthropy and considers how
giving might better support democratic values and promote justice.
Read this if you want to understand how to shape our technological
future and reinvigorate democracy along the way. -- Reed Hastings,
co-founder and CEO of Netflix __________ A forward-thinking
manifesto from three Stanford professors which reveals how big
tech's obsession with optimization and efficiency has sacrificed
fundamental human values and outlines steps we can take to change
course, renew our democracy, and save ourselves. __________ In no
more than the blink of an eye, a naive optimism about technology's
liberating potential has given way to a dystopian obsession with
biased algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and job-displacing
robots. Yet too few of us see any alternative to accepting the
onward march of technology. We have simply accepted a technological
future designed for us by technologists, the venture capitalists
who fund them, and the politicians who give them free rein. It
doesn't need to be this way. System Error exposes the root of our
current predicament: how big tech's relentless focus on
optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination,
erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we
get. Armed with an understanding of how technologists think and
exercise their power, three Stanford professors - a philosopher
working at the intersection of tech and ethics, a political
scientist who served under Obama, and the director of the
undergraduate Computer Science program at Stanford (also an early
Google engineer) - reveal how we can hold that power to account. As
the dominance of big tech becomes an explosive societal conundrum,
they share their provocative insights and concrete solutions to
help everyone understand what is happening, what is at stake, and
what we can do to control technology instead of letting it control
us.
One of the most far-reaching transformations in our era is the wave
of digital technologies rolling over--and upending--nearly every
aspect of life. Work and leisure, family and friendship, community
and citizenship have all been modified by now-ubiquitous digital
tools and platforms. Digital Technology and Democratic Theory looks
closely at one significant facet of our rapidly evolving digital
lives: how technology is radically changing our lives as citizens
and participants in democratic governments. To understand these
transformations, this book brings together contributions by
scholars from multiple disciplines to wrestle with the question of
how digital technologies shape, reshape, and affect fundamental
questions about democracy and democratic theory. As expectations
have whiplashed--from Twitter optimism in the wake of the Arab
Spring to Facebook pessimism in the wake of the 2016 US
election--the time is ripe for a more sober and long-term
assessment. How should we take stock of digital technologies and
their promise and peril for reshaping democratic societies and
institutions? To answer, this volume broaches the most pressing
technological changes and issues facing democracy as a philosophy
and an institution.
Read this if you want to understand how to shape our technological
future and reinvigorate democracy along the way. -- Reed Hastings,
co-founder and CEO of Netflix __________ A forward-thinking
manifesto from three Stanford professors which reveals how big
tech's obsession with optimization and efficiency has sacrificed
fundamental human values and outlines steps we can take to change
course, renew our democracy, and save ourselves. __________ In no
more than the blink of an eye, a naive optimism about technology's
liberating potential has given way to a dystopian obsession with
biased algorithms, surveillance capitalism, and job-displacing
robots. Yet too few of us see any alternative to accepting the
onward march of technology. We have simply accepted a technological
future designed for us by technologists, the venture capitalists
who fund them, and the politicians who give them free rein. It
doesn't need to be this way. System Error exposes the root of our
current predicament: how big tech's relentless focus on
optimization is driving a future that reinforces discrimination,
erodes privacy, displaces workers, and pollutes the information we
get. Armed with an understanding of how technologists think and
exercise their power, three Stanford professors - a philosopher
working at the intersection of tech and ethics, a political
scientist who served under Obama, and the director of the
undergraduate Computer Science program at Stanford (also an early
Google engineer) - reveal how we can hold that power to account. As
the dominance of big tech becomes an explosive societal conundrum,
they share their provocative insights and concrete solutions to
help everyone understand what is happening, what is at stake, and
what we can do to control technology instead of letting it control
us.
Philanthropy is everywhere. In 2013, in the United States alone,
some $330 billion was recorded in giving, from large donations by
the wealthy all the way down to informal giving circles. We tend to
think of philanthropy as unequivocally good, but as the
contributors to this book show, philanthropy is also an exercise of
power. And like all forms of power, especially in a democratic
society, it deserves scrutiny. Yet it rarely has been given serious
attention. This book fills that gap, bringing together expert
philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, historians, and
legal scholars to ask fundamental and pressing questions about
philanthropy's role in democratic societies. The contributors
balance empirical and normative approaches, exploring both the
roles philanthropy has actually played in societies and the roles
it should play. They ask a multitude of questions: When is
philanthropy good or bad for democracy? How does, and should,
philanthropic power interact with expectations of equal citizenship
and democratic political voice? What makes the exercise of
philanthropic power legitimate? What forms of private activity in
the public interest should democracy promote, and what forms should
it resist? Examining these and many other topics, the contributors
offer a vital assessment of philanthropy at a time when its power
to affect public outcomes has never been greater.
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