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The Santiago Boys
open.spotify.comListen to The Santiago Boys on Spotify. Cybersyn was a project created by the Chilean President Salvador Allende. His idea was to build a large digital network serving the socialist government. It was a sort of internet before the internet, that would have made centralization possible, allowing to process an enormous amount of data from all over Chile. However, the project was abruptly interrupted due to the 1973 coup, that brought General Pinochet to power. What would have happened if Allende had completed his project? This podcast delves into the research of the engineers (the Santiago Boys) who helped the Chilean president and, in particular, into the figure of a prominent British technology guru, Stafford Beer. The serie is written and presented by Evgeny Morozov, a leading new media and technology researcher.
Episode 3 is amazing so far, I had no idea Nixon did quite that much crazy stuff (as a non-American). And there’s a lot of parallels to our situation in Europe right now - supply-driven inflation, a lack of our own technology so we end up paying American companies for everything (Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Amazon, etc.) who collude with the American government.
It’s a shame the journalists these days are so weak and spineless too - like Assange faces extradition, when back then they were exposing COINTELPRO, Watergate and being targeted for assassination.
It’s easier to fall into comformity than to question things. One, the risk of someone killing you is lesser, two, it’s not wort it for the pay, three, if you can get bribed not to publish something, even better.