105: Are We About to Be FUCT?

A Libertarian Fever Dream Meets AI-Driven Governance

The world is moving faster than ever, but who—or what—is in control? A new regime is taking shape, one that sees governance as just another system to be optimized, streamlined, and ultimately, automated. This is not just a political shift; it’s an ontological one.

Under the guise of "effective accelerationism" (e/acc), the Trump administration—guided by the technocratic ambitions of figures like Elon Musk and the networked influence of DOGE—seeks to dismantle the administrative state and replace it with computational governance. The question we face is clear: Are we about to be FUCT? That is, are we about to be Fully Under the Control of Technology?

The e/acc Agenda: Autocratic Futurism

In the eyes of accelerationists, the future is not something to be debated or governed in the traditional sense; it is something to be unleashed. This ideology, which has found an ally in Trump’s latest administration, aims to remove human intermediaries—bureaucrats, regulators, and even elected officials—and replace them with automated decision-making systems, predictive algorithms, and market-based solutions. The guiding assumption is that government is inefficient and that AI, machine learning, and decentralized platforms can replace the messy, human-driven process of democracy and social welfare.

The result? Social programs are slashed, replaced with precarious gig work dressed up as "opportunity." Public infrastructure is privatized and handed over to venture capitalists with AI-driven operational models. The carceral state expands, with automated surveillance and predictive policing ensuring that dissent is neutralized before it even materializes. Opportunity is replaced by incarceration, and the poor are left to fend for themselves in an economic ecosystem where algorithms decide their fate.

For Musk and his fellow travelers, governance is no longer about human relations—it’s about computation. Everything from labor to welfare to justice can, in their eyes, be reduced to an optimization problem. What they fail to recognize—or perhaps what they recognize all too well—is that such a system is inherently authoritarian. It’s a world in which control is exerted not through laws or political consensus but through code, automation, and unaccountable AI systems.

The Speed of Political Economy: Faster Than Traditional Politics Can Handle

The velocity of change in political economy is increasing, and traditional political systems are proving incapable of keeping up. Regulatory agencies move at a bureaucratic crawl, while tech-driven economic shifts happen at the speed of software updates. By the time policymakers debate the impact of a new technology, it has already reshaped industries, labor markets, and governance itself.

This imbalance benefits those in control of the technology, allowing them to dictate the terms of the future. Musk’s purchase of Twitter—now X—was not just a business decision; it was a direct intervention in the media and political landscape. Meanwhile, AI-driven decision-making is already determining who gets hired, who gets a loan, and who ends up in prison.

The old tools of political resistance—protests, legislation, even elections—are struggling to keep pace. If we want to resist being FUCT, we need to fundamentally rethink our role in this accelerating system.

From Citizens to Hackers: The Way to Resist Being FUCT

The hacker ethic has never been more relevant. The traditional idea of citizenship—where rights are granted in exchange for passive compliance with the state—is becoming obsolete. In an era where control is exerted through technology, the only meaningful way to engage with power is to understand, manipulate, and subvert the systems that enforce it.

Hacking is not just about breaking into networks; it’s about understanding how systems function and using that knowledge to reshape them. It’s about resisting the computational enclosure of our lives by refusing to be passive users. It’s about reclaiming agency in a world where agency is being systematically eroded.

No rights without responsibilities? That was the old deal of liberal democracy. The new reality is more stark: No freedom without the ability to hack. If we don’t learn to hack the systems that govern us, we will be governed by those who do.

This is not a call to retreat into digital escapism. It’s a call to upgrade. To move beyond passive political engagement and embrace the role of system-disruptors, builders of alternatives, and active agents of change. The future is already being written. If we want a say in what it looks like, we need to start rewriting it ourselves.