Level Up: Life In A Post-Pandemic Video Game
August 22, Saturday, 10am-1pm EST. Online via Zoom.
Alison McDowell & Joseph Gonzalez

During our months-long quarantine, the Fourth Industrial Revolution program set up by the Davos elite has come online. We’re now looking at deployment of robust 5G “smart city” infrastructure, the rise of digital identity systems linked to health status, disruption of economic activity around the world, fragmentation of social fabric, and draconian disease surveillance measures.

So what comes after lockdown? Our “new normal” is looking more and more authoritarian with each passing day. Central to this rising techno-fascism is the adoption of immunity passports, contract tracing, and detainment of disease suspects. This seminar will consider the alarming implications of living in the pandemic panopticon run by artificial intelligence. We will also explore the intersection of augmented reality, geo-fencing, biometrics on blockchain, gamified behavior management, and transhumanism.

While many on the Left continue to assert that capitalism is in its final death throes, in reality it has jumped into the virtual realm, pulling us along with it. Virtual reality is set to be the next settler-colonial frontier, a world coded into reality with unfree labor to profit the billionaire class. Their goal is to use the pretense of social impact investing in “human capital” to force the masses into a Pokemon Go game of “life.”

What does organizing look like in a future where robots are the workers and the value of humans is in behavioral compliance? What historical precedents can we draw upon to resist the rise of neo-slavery? Join us as we examine this new terrain and channel marronage for the twenty-first century.

Facilitators:

Alison McDowell is a mother, activist, and a Philadelphia-based independent researcher. She blogs about race, financialization, and technology, at wrenchinthegears.com.

Joseph Gonzales is a computer programmer with over thirty years of experience in virtual reality, gaming and artificial intelligence.

Time: Saturday, August 22th, 10am-1pm. Online.
Cost: This program is being presented by volunteer researchers. In the interests of supporting further conversations as well as on-the-ground survival work, a donation is requested in an amount that feels right to you. Typically people contribute between $10-90 per session. Proceeds collected will be split between Incite Seminars and food growing initiatives on Lakota land in South Dakota. We realize many folks are in precarious circumstances now. No one will be turned away. We welcome everyone’s insights.

Registration

Please register here. If you have any questions or concerns, email inciteseminarsphila@gmail.com.