Toward a digital resistance

This is unfortunately the conclusion that some might draw from the events that punctuate our daily lives.

During the autumn of 2024, I discovered Jacques Ellul. I refer you to his Wikipedia page, which is quite rich. According to Ellul’s “techno-critical” theory, the preoccupation of the vast majority of people of our time is to seek the absolute most efficient method in all things.

This observation was made in the 1960s and remains strikingly relevant today. We tend, consciously or not, to seek efficiency in everything we do, everything we consume, sometimes at the expense of some of our freedoms.

“The many tools available in our digital world make our lives easier, allow us to create and exchange information, but, particularly in the current context, it would be dangerous to leave control of these tools to a small number of actors.” (Bruno Levy - These non-binary binaries)

We use devices (Chinese or US), we socialize or communicate on social networks (Chinese or US), we work and exchange on software and servers (Chinese or US). In hindsight, most of us know that there is something dangerous in all this.

A voluntary servitude, as Etienne de la Boetie might have written?

For the past few months, the question of digital sovereignty has been brought back to the forefront (see on this topic the excellent blog by Robin Berjon).

Should we resist? And if so, how? These are the questions being asked by citizens becoming aware of the situation.

Our digital consumption is cause for concern because it produces harmful consequences resulting from the hegemony of Big Tech. Gaspard Koenig poses the question: if an algorithm knows me better than I know myself and offers me more rational choices, if it preempts my decision, why would I need a right to vote?

This leads to a modern (and digital) illustration of Friedman’s state paternalism. According to this theory, government intervention in individuals’ lives is justified for their own good. “Since people think poorly, or lack autonomous judgment, we will help them make the best decisions for themselves using algorithms,” some would say.

We must take back control. First by becoming aware of the situation as a whole, in its entirety. Understanding that every choice we make either consolidates or weakens a position. We must analyze to better fight.

As David Chavalarias wrote: “If we want to ensure the sustainability of our democracy in the age of digital capitalism, the first link in the chain of intervention is us.”