Who Owns the Future?

by Jaron Lanier

Throughout human history, humans have been their own worst enemies, and whenever someone is oppressing someone else, the oppressor seeks to control the tools of communication.

For instance, two gargantuan malfunctions in the United States that exploded during the period between the hardback and paperback editions of this book seemed to be unrelated at first glance.

The first malfunction was when the United States was nearly torn asunder by the extraordinary struggle over “Obamacare.”

The second malfunction exploded around Edward Snowden’s leaks, which revealed that the National Security Administration was overstepping its charter; snooping on everyone, friend and foe;

That it’s lightweight and has a touchscreen is less important than the fact that the owner has less freedom than owners of previous generations of digital devices.

The only way to sell a loss of freedom, so that people will accept it voluntarily, is by making it look like a great bargain at first.

Prelude