The November 3, 2026, election is presented as a rebuke of a political and economic order in which powerful technology executives and their companies gain influence while ordinary people absorb the costs. The argument is that voters across red, blue, and purple states rejected what the writer calls a “cruelty, corruption, and depravity” economy: one that treats deaths, job losses, and other harms from AI as acceptable collateral damage while concentrating wealth and power among oligarchs. The piece links that outlook to Silicon Valley leaders’ support for Donald Trump, including public displays of loyalty and efforts to shape government policy.
It cites Elon Musk’s role in cutting federal programs and public-service jobs, while his companies retained government contracts and his AI tools entered government systems. Other examples include cryptocurrency pardons and alleged family profiteering, prediction markets, surveillance technology used for deportations, and the appointment of online influencers and conspiracy theorists to senior roles. The writer also connects Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran to rising fuel and consumer prices, alongside deregulation benefiting fossil-fuel and other large corporations. Together, these examples frame the election not as a narrow verdict on technology, but as resistance to a governing alliance that uses technology to strengthen private power while imposing economic and social harms on the public.
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