‘Silicon Valley’s “great replacement” theory’
Eduardo Porter at The Washington Post
Silicon Valley’s “vision loses much of its charm when you consider the power these men can wield,” says Eduardo Porter. Tech billionaires’ “overriding concern for humanity in the far future not only devalues the critical concerns of the present — things like abject poverty and its attendant conditions,” but the “utopian scheme glosses over more mundane perils, such as undermining the notion of reality, that AI is provoking in the here and now.”
‘New poll reveals how deep online hate is.’
Ted Deutch at Newsweek
The U.S. has “long been regarded as a safe harbor for Jews,” but “today, extremism and division are tearing at the fabric of our society,” says Ted Deutch. Antisemitism has become “so pervasive that nearly three-quarters (73%) of American Jews feel less secure than a year ago.” As “more and more people turn to social media, for both news and entertainment, Americans are getting stuck in the ultimate echo chamber” that “only furthers division and othering.”
‘The United States is more vulnerable to disasters under Trump’
Jonathan Mingle at The Progressive
President Donald Trump’s “recent executive orders and actions pose a threat to the long-term physical and economic security of vulnerable communities across the country,” says Jonathan Mingle. By “erasing any consideration of climate risks from federal policy, the Trump administration is undermining communities’ ability to prepare for and recover from severe weather and other climate-related shocks.” This “comes at a time when the nation’s aging transportation infrastructure is in desperate need of upgrading.”
‘How Sudan and Palestine made it to the Super Bowl’
Omar Suleiman at Al Jazeera
During the “Super Bowl halftime show, a performer raised the flags of Sudan and Palestine,” and the “moment itself, fleeting as it was, was deeply symbolic,” says Omar Suleiman. It “reflected the resolve of the Sudanese and Palestinian people and their allies to break through the censorship of their narratives imposed by mainstream platforms.” It was “yet another example of how, when faced with systematic suppression, they have ingeniously found cracks in the system to make their voices heard.”