{"id":29851,"date":"2025-06-06T19:25:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T19:25:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=29851"},"modified":"2026-01-03T13:26:01","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:26:01","slug":"tech-titans-rising-u-s-authoritarianism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=29851","title":{"rendered":"Tech Titans &amp; Rising U.S. Authoritarianism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-large-font-size wp-elements-842c5cfeb192be2eefe6a423414ae845\">UPDATE from June 6\/2025 because Court Painter wants everyone to have a watchful 2026!<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@basilpuglisi?source=post_page---post_responses--fb6dfa5e4128----0-----------------------------------\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@basilpuglisi?source=post_page---post_responses--fb6dfa5e4128----0-----------------------------------\">Basil C. Puglisi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@basilpuglisi\/ai-fatigue-isnt-a-symptom-of-overuse-it-s-a-sign-of-imbalance-e672420af9b5?source=post_page---post_responses--fb6dfa5e4128----0-----------------------------------\">Oct 22<\/a> \/25<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">&#8216;AI fatigue isn\u2019t a symptom of overuse, it\u2019s a sign of imbalance. When systems move faster than the structures that guide them, people disengage to preserve clarity. That pause is not weakness, it is information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Fatigue marks the moment when growth outpaces reflection. It shows where <strong>acceleration stopped being collaboration and started being<\/strong> <strong>extraction<\/strong>. The correction is not to slow technology but to design feedback that protects human rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Healthy systems learn to listen. They translate resistance into calibration, not control. Fatigue reminds us that intelligence is only sustainable when it moves at the speed of understanding.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29105\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Court-Painter-P-Thiel-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of tech billionaire Peter Thiel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27517\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Zuckerberg-1-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of tech billionaire Mark Zuckerberg<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-E-Musk.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-28145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-E-Musk.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-E-Musk-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Court-Painter-E-Musk-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter  with portrait of tech billionaire Elon Musk<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-8d44ce5911e8f3c3ba8dbc6da285a421\" style=\"color:#d00c02\"><strong>Democracy Now,June 5\/2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-45522e352a1135f753d8b3cf103ac9c2\" style=\"color:#83500d\">Democracy Now is joined by award-winning investigative journalist Carole Cadwalladr, who in 2018 exposed the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal and is now taking on what she terms the \u201cbroligarchy,\u201d the billionaire Silicon Valley businessmen who now wield major influence in U.S. government and society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-gray-color has-dark-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-5ad68a405583638bbe5cbccff9790fae\">\u201cThis is a new type of power, and the world hasn\u2019t seen this before, in which you have state power now with this enormous surveillance engine machine,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-72b8e0e3b39aa894c0163ce34434ea3f\" style=\"color:#4a0415\"> says Cadwalladr. She warns that the increasing authoritarianism of the Trump administration is being facilitated by unregulated surveillance technology. \u201cPeople should be freaked out. \u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-light-gray-color has-dark-gray-background-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-e47a8a61a8535da58d93d739806cff24\">&#8220;They want as much information about the population as possible, so that they can surveil them, they can control them, they can search out their enemies, they can target them, and they can punish them, and they can silence them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Click for video<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/htjPIaEswTk?si=5eVRDngCVKZWrq0r\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Court-Painter-J-Bezos-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of tech billionaire<\/em> <em>Jeff Bezos<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Court-Painter-Alex-Karp.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Court-Painter-Alex-Karp.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Court-Painter-Alex-Karp-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Court-Painter-Alex-Karp-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of tech billionaire Alex Karp CEO of Palantir Technologies<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Larry-Ellison.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30855\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Larry-Ellison.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Larry-Ellison-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Larry-Ellison-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Court Painter with portrait of tech billionaire and cofounder of software giant Oracle<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">More Tech Bros &#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Sundar Pichai (Alphabet\/Google)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tim Cook (Apple)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Satya Nadella (Microsoft)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jensen Huang (NVIDIA)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Arvind Krishna (IB<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Dario Amodei (Anthropic)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Andy Jassy (Amazon)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-.S-Pichal.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30842\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-.S-Pichal.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-.S-Pichal-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-.S-Pichal-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Tim-Cook.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30841\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Tim-Cook.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Tim-Cook-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-Tim-Cook-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-S-Nadella.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30840\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-S-Nadella.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-S-Nadella-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-S-Nadella-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-J.Huang_.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30839\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-J.Huang_.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-J.Huang_-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-J.Huang_-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Krishna.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30837\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Krishna.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Krishna-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Krishna-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-D-Amodei.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30838\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-D-Amodei.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-D-Amodei-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-D-Amodei-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"714\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Jassy.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30836\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Jassy.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Jassy-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Court-Painter-A-Jassy-768x548.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"691\" src=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Court-Painter-Burst-bubble.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31544\" srcset=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Court-Painter-Burst-bubble.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Court-Painter-Burst-bubble-300x207.jpg 300w, https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Court-Painter-Burst-bubble-768x531.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 709px) 85vw, (max-width: 909px) 67vw, (max-width: 1362px) 62vw, 840px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-dark-red-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-558f9edbb45aec09494561abdbce8365\"><em>Court Painter seen with Bursting Bubble painting which he is betting on as a favourite subject for 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UPDATE from June 6\/2025 because Court Painter wants everyone to have a watchful 2026! Basil C. Puglisi Oct 22 \/25 &#8216;AI fatigue isn\u2019t a symptom of overuse, it\u2019s a sign of imbalance. When systems move faster than the structures that guide them, people disengage to preserve clarity. That pause is not weakness, it is information. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/?p=29851\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Tech Titans &amp; Rising U.S. Authoritarianism&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-images","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29851"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32001,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29851\/revisions\/32001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allanhardingmackay.ca\/courtpainter\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}