Our readings for yesterday illuminated these news items for me:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-mark-zuckerberg-political-ads_n_5db0afa6e4b0d5b789454272 , esp. from 1:30, and the response, “Congresswoman, I would say that we’re not the one assessing…” (resonating esp. with Posner’s “See no Evil”).
and https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614487/meet-americas-newest-military-giant-amazon/?utm_campaign=site_visitor.paid.acquisition&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=tr_social&utm_content=keywee_paywall_retarget&kwp_0=1416678&fbclid=IwAR0Q6y3B6ZG100sBJS5QytU4SLBi-D09P3psgeWTa3WjWCQsXaqeUbmJ-6s
Last August, I was among a group of people arrested with an organization called JFREJ, at an event calling attention to Amazon’s role, with Palantir, in supplying surveillance tech to ICE. At a follow-up meeting, the question arose of whether to boycott Amazon. Reading this article led me to think about the likely demographic overlap of Americans who boycott Amazon (on policy grounds like these, rather than the consumption ones we discussed in class yesterday) and those who subscribe to the Washington Post. Bezos and Trump seem so similar and aligned in many ways, even as they perpetuate their public images as political and personal rivals. And as Bezos’ newspaper tries to profess and promote an ethics of care. The invisibility of tech makes it hard to figure out infrastructures, as I think was implied in Star’s article. And makes it harder to identify, and align with, the good guys.