Ep. 141: Shock & Surprise

We're catching up on some "breaking news" this week after a few weeks of interviews... And by "breaking news" we mean all the stories that shock and surprise us that is totally obvious and unsurprising.

Big tech giants are targeting the most marginalized and vulnerable people in order to enhance their algorithms. The IRS is targeting the most marginalized and vulnerable people because targeting the powerful is just too hard. And the government is thrilled about smart home technologies because the notion of a ubiquitous array of cameras and microphones that penetrate even into your bedroom is just far too tempting.

In a certain sense, having your world view so obviously and darkly confirmed can still feel surprising. But also, we find that the solutions can seem as obvious as the problems as we look at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's "Just Society" plan that--while not transformative by any means--are all really obvious steps to make society a little less wretched and regressive.

All that and more this week on Future Left.

The reads this week:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/technology/google-facial-recognition-atlanta-homeless.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/feb/09/internet-of-things-smart-devices-spying-surveillance-us-government

https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-sorry-but-its-just-easier-and-cheaper-to-audit-the-poor

https://theslot.jezebel.com/the-brilliant-simplicity-of-alexandria-ocasio-cortezs-n-1838444038