Behind effective accelerationism’s techno-optimist smile lies a familiar and dangerous impulse: subordinating human dignity to a technological imperative framed as inevitable.
The effective accelerationism movement (e/acc) presents itself as an enlightened embrace of technological progress, especially artificial general intelligence. Led by figures like Guillaume Verdon and embraced by venture capitalists like Marc Andreessen, the movement claims humanity faces a binary choice: “accelerate or die.” Those who question this narrative are dismissed as “decels” or “doomers” standing in the way of humanity’s cosmic destiny.
Nowhere is this authoritarian impulse more clearly articulated than in Andreessen’s “Techno-Optimist Manifesto”—a document that warrants direct examination. Strip away its futuristic veneer, and what remains is essentially 21st century fascism in digital clothing.
Consider the manifesto’s central claims. It flatly rejects the legitimacy of democratic regulation over technology: “We believe markets—free people making free choices—are the proper determinant of which technologies are created and deployed.” It declares technology the solution to all problems while dismissing concerns about inequality, sustainability, or governance as wrongheaded: “We oppose the philosophy of the unproductive ‘steady state.’“ Most tellingly, it explicitly rejects democratic oversight: “We are pro-civilization and thus we are focused on the private sector,” as if civilization itself is incompatible with public governance.
This isn’t mere enthusiasm for innovation; it’s a comprehensive political ideology that seeks to replace democratic deliberation with technological determinism and market fundamentalism. The manifesto’s vision is fundamentally feudal: a world where tech oligarchs determine humanity’s course, unencumbered by democratic institutions or public accountability. This isn’t optimism—it’s authoritarianism with a Silicon Valley gloss.
Andreessen positions himself as a philosopher-king of technological progress while demonstrating remarkable blindness to his own limitations. His breathless championing of Web3 and crypto as civilization’s inevitable future now looks more like hubris than vision as those markets have cratered. Though his venture firm, a16z, managed to unload much of its token holdings onto retail investors before the crash—a practice any reasonable person would find ethically troubling. This pattern of privatizing gains while socializing losses perfectly illustrates the movement’s underlying philosophy: technological “inevitability” for the masses, insider protection for the elite.
What makes e/acc dangerous isn’t enthusiasm for technology but its underlying technological determinism—the belief that innovation follows a predetermined path humans must accept rather than direct. This deterministic view treats human agency as largely irrelevant, serious debate as futile, and skepticism as dangerous heresy. We’ve seen this pattern before in other deterministic ideologies, from Marxist historical inevitability to market fundamentalism’s “invisible hand.” Marxism once declared proletarian revolution inevitable, sidelining debate about the means. Free-market fundamentalism claimed deregulation was destiny, ignoring warnings of catastrophic risk. Both left profound damage in their wake.
Technological determinism doesn’t just silence debate—it quietly erases the belief that humans have meaningful agency in shaping their future.
The movement’s practice of labeling critics as “decels” reveals its epistemic authoritarianism—a system where questioning the accelerationist narrative becomes not just incorrect but morally suspect. This approach inherently limits pluralistic debate, silences valid ethical concerns, and frames caution as weakness rather than wisdom. When questioning technological development is framed as opposition to progress itself—as an obstacle rather than necessary caution—we’ve crossed from debate into epistemic authoritarianism.
This authoritarian impulse isn’t accidental but essential to the movement’s character. Its leading voices consistently present themselves not as participants in democratic deliberation but as visionaries whose insight transcends normal political constraints. There’s something fundamentally fascistic in this self-conception—the belief that technological “greatness” requires bypassing democratic processes and dismissing public concerns as ignorance.
Let’s be very clear about what this is: a fascist disposition wrapped in techno-futurism. The historical parallels are too striking to ignore. Like 20th century fascism, it glorifies speed and power over deliberation and equity. It frames democratic oversight as weakness and celebrates the will of technological “pioneers” over collective wisdom. It positions a self-selected elite as the arbiters of humanity’s future while dismissing those who disagree as obstacles to progress. If this isn’t fascism in contemporary form, what would be?
Perhaps most troubling is e/acc‘s cynicism about human dignity. By explicitly subordinating traditional ethical values to technological imperatives and cosmic entropy maximization, the movement creates a moral calculus indifferent or even hostile to individual and collective human flourishing. When technology becomes an end in itself rather than a means to human ends, we risk a profound moral impoverishment—technological nihilism wearing the mask of cosmic purpose.
If we reject technological authoritarianism, the alternative isn’t Luddism—it’s philosophical liberalism, with its firm commitment to pluralism, human dignity, and epistemic humility. Liberal democracy isn’t anti-technology—it insists only that technological development must remain subject to democratic accountability, ethical oversight, and meaningful consent. Liberalism sees technological progress not as inevitable, but as an ongoing human choice. Liberal democracy exists not to maximize entropy or technological development for its own sake, but to safeguard conditions for diverse human flourishing.
What’s actually at stake in this debate isn’t just the pace of innovation but whether humans meaningfully shape their own future. E/acc‘s seductive simplicity—its promise that surrendering to technological inevitability will solve humanity’s problems—can slide quickly into authoritarian governance justified by “inevitable” technological imperatives. We’re already seeing these dynamics at work in real-world contexts, as when the Trump administration uses tariffs as leverage to force countries to accept Elon Musk’s Starlink—a fusion of technological and political power that bypasses democratic accountability.
The center must be held against this technological determinism. Two plus two equals four means we must always insist on seeing reality clearly, not through the distorting lens of inevitability narratives that conveniently serve those already in power. Human dignity and democratic legitimacy aren’t obstacles to technological advancement—they’re its moral foundation. Without them, technology inevitably becomes not a force for liberation, but merely another form of authoritarian control—no matter how brightly it smiles.
Mike Brock is a former tech exec who was on the leadership team at Block. Originally published at his Notes From the Circus.
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