The Technocracy Movement of the 1930s
Summary
The piece traces the 1930s Technocracy movement, led by Howard Scott, which advocated an anti-democratic technocratic state governed by engineers and an energy-based economy. It notes the movement's rise, iconography, and rhetoric, its peak during the Great Depression, and later criticism, while drawing parallels to contemporary tech elites and governance. The author argues that modern concerns about data, surveillance, and AI-driven social engineering echo technocratic thinking, highlighting the tension between technology-driven progress and democratic control.