Five books: How tech giants use their wealth to influence politics

Fast Reading

• Contemporary tech giants have long transcended the role of mere "players" in business activities. Instead, they have become "rule - makers" deeply embedded in political decision - making and social order. How wealth is transformed into power has become a key issue in understanding the dilemmas of contemporary democracy and governance.
• Five new English books offer different perspectives: from the "weaponized philanthropy" and ideological battles of the Koch brothers, to the "surveillance capitalism" proposed by Shoshana Zuboff, and then to the "Four - X Model of Data Colonialism" outlined by Ulises A. Mejias and Nick Couldry, presenting the delicate tension between capital, technology, and power.
• Alexander Karp, the CEO of Palantir, calls on Silicon Valley to regain its sense of mission in The Technological Republic. Faiz Siddiqui, a reporter from The Washington Post, analyzes the logic behind Elon Musk's rise through a series of conflicts involving Tesla, the SEC, and the X platform in Hubris Maximus. In the gaps of the system, capital will naturally expand into sovereignty.

Large enterprises represented by various tech giants seem to symbolize innovation and efficiency on the surface. However, the influence brought by their huge wealth has long made their role more than just "players" in business activities. They have become "rule - makers" deeply embedded in political decision - making and social order. How wealth is transformed into power has become a key issue in understanding the dilemmas of contemporary democracy and governance. The following five books will reveal from different perspectives how tech giants use their wealth to influence politics, from which we may gain a deeper understanding of the delicate tension between capital, technology, and power.

■ Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

Author: Jane Mayer

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

In the 2016 US presidential election, the total cost reached approximately $6.8 billion, almost double that of 2012. About $1 billion of it came from several mysterious super - rich individuals. This "Republican donor group" includes: Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate and one of the most generous donors to Republican candidates that year; Robert Mercer, a hedge - fund manager who injected far - right views into the public opinion field by supporting Cambridge Analytica and Breitbart News; and Foster Friess, a wealthy investor who has long funded religious conservative agendas. And at the center of this group are the Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch. In Dark Money, Jane Mayer, a senior reporter from The New Yorker, reveals how these super - rich individuals have profoundly shaped the US political landscape with detailed investigative data.

The book shows how the Koch brothers started from their family's energy business and expanded the pipeline and refining assets left by their father into a huge corporate group, Koch Industries, covering multiple fields such as oil, coal, timber, chemicals, and commodities. This company once became the second - largest private enterprise in the United States. While expanding their business, they also built a multi - layered and mutually - supporting political system consisting of think - tanks, foundations, lobbying organizations, and grassroots groups. This system gives them great power to shape public opinion and influence policies. Therefore, it is more appropriate to view them as "political engineers" who use wealth as a weapon and are committed to reshaping the US political structure rather than just entrepreneurs.

The most impactful part of the book is the analysis of the Koch brothers' political ideas and practices. Since the 1980s, influenced by the ideas of economist Friedrich Hayek, they have firmly believed that the spontaneous adjustment of the market is superior to all government regulations. To promote this concept, they have invested heavily in funding numerous non - profit organizations. These organizations, which present themselves as "independent think - tanks" or "citizen groups" on the surface, actually have a strong ideological color. From "Citizens for a Sound Economy" to "Americans for Prosperity", these institutions have long promoted anti - regulation and anti - tax ideas. Mayer keenly points out that this is a long - term "ideological battle" whose purpose is not only to influence the direction of specific bills but also to gradually erode the public's trust in government intervention, thus firmly placing the country under the control of the free market.

More interestingly, Mayer does not limit her vision to the Koch brothers but traces back to the Rockefeller era, revealing another aspect of "philanthropy". Since the 1920s, foundations and tax - exempt donations have gradually evolved into a secret weapon for capitalists to manipulate public policies. This "weaponized philanthropy" is not only a sophisticated tax - avoidance method but also a political lever to influence the social direction. By the time of the Koch brothers, philanthropy and public welfare have become important tools for them to shape public opinion, influence policies, and even transform the social structure.

Of course, Dark Money has also attracted a lot of criticism. For example, some critics believe that Mayer focuses on exposing the donors of the Republican camp while ignoring the fact that the Democratic Party also relies on donor funding. However, for Chinese readers, this does not diminish the value of Dark Money: On the one hand, it reveals the political ambitions and operating methods of the Koch brothers; on the other hand, it warns us that when capital penetrates politics everywhere, the foundation of the democratic system will be gradually hollowed out.

■ The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Author: Shoshana Zuboff

Publisher: PublicAffairs

In The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Shoshana Zuboff, an emeritus professor at Harvard Business School, addresses a core issue in the current era: in an era where big data and algorithms penetrate everything, how do tech giants build a new economic model - "surveillance capitalism" - by capturing, analyzing, and selling personal behavior data. This model no longer relies on the exploitation of nature and labor in the industrial era but focuses on predicting human behavior, transforming people's daily habits and choices into tradable commodities. The value of this book lies in revealing how this hidden exploitation penetrates everyone's daily life through detailed case analyses.

Zuboff first takes Apple as a typical example. As we all know, Apple has long maintained its high - end brand image through the narrative of "consumer choice". However, Zuboff sharply points out that behind this so - called "choice" is the in - depth tracking and utilization of users' behavior data. From the App Store to iCloud, Apple continuously accumulates a huge amount of data and then converts these data into targeted recommendations and advertising revenues. Even though Apple promotes "privacy first" as its slogan, its business logic still depends on occupying as much data as possible. This also shows that even companies that claim to value privacy protection may actually strengthen the logic of surveillance capitalism.

Apple is not an isolated case. Zuboff's analysis of Google and Facebook is even more in - depth. She points out that these platform giants have almost reshaped public perception by monopolizing information channels. The closed source code and high patent barriers make it impossible for the outside world to examine their algorithmic black boxes. Acquiring key companies such as YouTube, Android, Instagram, and WhatsApp has further expanded their user base and information dominance. To maintain this opacity, they control the flow of information through confidentiality agreements and vertical integration. At the same time, they also pour a large amount of funds and positions into academia, poaching top scholars with high salaries. They not only control cutting - edge research results but also influence future academic directions, exacerbating the concentration of knowledge and resources. Notably, the CEOs of many companies hold a high proportion of equity, so they can determine corporate strategies according to their personal will, making external supervision almost impossible. In this situation, neither the public nor the government can effectively restrain these companies.

Furthermore, Zuboff also reveals the ambiguous relationship between the US government and enterprises. She points out that in the context of the "War on Terror", the US National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency have invested huge amounts of money in developing surveillance technologies, making large - scale data collection normal. This has enabled technology companies to obtain strong technical support on the one hand and enjoy a relaxed regulatory environment on the other. Thus, public power and private capital are intertwined, jointly promoting the expansion of surveillance capitalism supported by data.

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism does not provide feasible strategies and solutions to combat surveillance capitalism. However, it reminds us to pay attention to how the power structure of modern society is reshaped in ways we have not realized. We may also think about: in a world where every move is recorded, analyzed, and predicted, to what extent can individuals still achieve freedom and autonomy?

■ Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back

Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back

Authors: Ulises A. Mejias & Nick Couldry

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Hundreds of years ago, land plunder driven by colonialism established a world order and reorganized the way of resource allocation through violence and institutional exploitation. Today, data plunder creates a new social order through the ubiquitous collection and utilization of personal information, allowing a small number of enterprises and countries to hold the right to speak and huge interests, while the public is forced to become data providers and the exploited. In Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back, Ulises A. Mejias and Nick Couldry place "data" in the grand narrative framework of colonialism, revealing the hidden power logic in the digital age. Ulises A. Mejias is currently a professor of communication at the State University of New York at Oswego, and Nick Couldry is a professor in the Department of Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

The two authors first summarize the two characteristics of colonialism through the land plunder in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the late 19th century: first, it is global in scale; second, it brings deprivation and injustice on the one hand and has a long - term impact on the other. Then, the book criticizes the common perception that "colonialism is a thing of the past" and argues that today's data plunder is a continuation of the land plunder of the past - it reorganizes resources, exploits the public, and concentrates opportunities in the hands of a few. In this framework, the most valuable part of the book is to analyze the mechanism of how data colonialism advances by using the "Four - X Model" of historical colonial expansion:

(1) Explore (X - plore): In the data age, the "new world" is not geographical territory but people's bodies and daily behaviors. Users' heartbeats, typing rhythms, and song playlists played late at night to relieve depression are all regarded by algorithms as raw resources to be explored and developed.

(2) Expand (X - pand): Platform companies, like colonial empires, penetrate their services into the level of daily necessities, packaging "instant gratification" as an indispensable part of modern civilization. Once users form a dependence, they are locked into the service system and keep paying for upgrades.

(3) Exploit (X - ploit): Just as colonists turned sugarcane into sugar, platforms turn users' selfies and interactions into capital. Social media not only manipulates attention but also manipulates emotions, such as pushing extreme content and creating division and violence using a large amount of data.

(4) Terminate (X - terminate): Under the algorithmic logic of tech giants, the ultimate fate of traditional industries and small enterprises is to be eliminated: taxi drivers are replaced by self - driving cars, and small and medium - sized enterprises decline due to their lack of data - delivery capabilities. This mechanism is similar to the industrial destruction during the colonial period.

In addition, the book's deconstruction of the mythical rhetoric of tech giants is also valuable. For example, tech giants often claim to "save time" and "improve efficiency" for users, but behind this efficiency myth is the erosion of users' privacy and the sacrifice of workers' health, just as colonists used "spreading civilization" to cover up exploitation and plunder. Another example is that they often claim that social media can connect the world without distance, but they deliberately ignore that this connection actually accelerates political polarization and promotes hate speech, causing social conflicts and divisions. Furthermore, the book analyzes how the "colonial class" of GAFAM (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft) is closely combined with national interests to promote the emergence of the "algorithmic state", thus maintaining the entire exploitation mechanism. This analysis can be mutually verified with the discussion in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism.

Compared with The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, the advantage of this book is that it does not stop at exposure and criticism but spends a lot of space discussing the paths of resistance: within the system, it can appeal to regulation and ethical design; outside the system, it can appeal to boycotts and protests; finally, it is about alternative technologies and digital justice frameworks beyond the current system. The two authors cite various real - world cases to emphasize that resistance is not out of reach but is already happening.

It is true that comparing data colonialism to historical colonialism may seem a bit far - fetched due to the lack of direct violence and plunder. However, it still provides profound insights. More commendably, this book not only raises questions but also provides practical ideas for policymakers, regulators, and even ordinary citizens to refer to. This is the significance of the book.

■ The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West

Authors: Alexander Karp, Nicholas W. Zamiska

Publisher: Crown Currency

Alexander Karp, the founder and CEO of Palantir, presents a "glorifying the past and belittling the present" narrative in The Technological Republic, which may seem familiar to Chinese readers: in the 1960s and 1970s, Silicon Valley grew rapidly due to the Cold War, undertaking major military projects from the Pentagon and serving national security. However, under the "Pax Americana" after the end of the Cold War, entrepreneurs became obsessed with traffic and capital, and Silicon Valley gradually fell into the trap of consumerism - in a nutshell, Silicon Valley lost its sense of mission. Karp believes that new technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics are rewriting the global order. If Silicon Valley does not change its ways, the United States may lose its advantage in the technological competition.

Compared with the worrying grand narrative in the book, the more attractive part for readers is the specific and vivid cases. For example, when the US military carried out military operations in Afghanistan, it had to import radio equipment from Japan due to the overly cumbersome domestic procurement system. This absurd scene not only exposed the inefficiency of the US institutional mechanism but also made Karp sigh about the difficulty of Palantir in the national defense system - the long procurement process, the "hardware" preference for established military - industrial enterprises, and the inertia of the bureaucratic institutions make it difficult for software companies like Palantir, even with advanced technology, to obtain key contracts and play their due role in strategic planning and high - level decision - making. Karp bluntly said that the US government must drastically reform the procurement process, break the traditional thinking of "hardware first", and actively recruit software engineers and data scientists into national security agencies. Otherwise, even the most advanced software can only stay at the demonstration level and cannot be truly implemented.

In Karp's view, what is more worrying than the failure of the system is the loss of culture. Silicon Valley engineers, once known for their independence and innovation, now waste their talents on consumer - oriented applications such as Snapchat and Fizz in order to fit in, avoiding geopolitical, national security, and fundamental social issues. Palantir deliberately maintains its independence and borrows the "root - cause analysis" of the Toyota production system, emphasizing that technological failures often stem from organizational and interpersonal relationships rather than algorithmic loopholes. The purpose of using this method is to remind engineers to maintain in - depth thinking about complex problems and a high sense of social responsibility. Of course, as an entrepreneur, Karp does not deny that consumer - oriented application projects can bring commercial benefits. However, he emphasizes that this "incremental innovation" cannot cope with the current era of frequent geopolitical conflicts and the approaching risk of the Thucydides Trap. Karp believes that Americans need to ask: Is technology only for providing convenience and entertainment, or can it shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding civilization?

Some critics point out that The Technological Republic has a tendency to "romanticize" the Cold War, as if scientists and engineers at that time all had a national mission, while ignoring the complex drawbacks brought by the military - industrial complex. Other critics also point out that although Karp's criticism of Silicon Valley culture is profound, the solutions he provides are not new.