The “Broligarchs” Are Here
This election may define the future for the "broligarchy"
However today’s elections in the US turn out, the prominence of what Brooke Harrington calls “the broligarchs” in this election cycle has been undeniable.
I was contemplating writing about the oligarchs among us when I came across Harrington’s far more apt and clever term to describe the wealthy technology bros who are shaping US politics — from Peter Thiel to Elon Musk to Jeff Bezos.
Whether it’s Musk channeling massive funds to support Trump, or Bezos stifling his Editorial Board’s endorsement of Harris, the “broligarchs” are behaving as if they are in Russia, catering to the whims of a potential autocractic future.
It’s shameful.
The list of “broligarchs” is long, and we in scholarly publishing have caved to oligarchs ourselves, allowing Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and the Googleplex to dictate policies that have weakened controls on scientific claims, eroded intellectual rights, and made a mess of the scholarly record.
We seem to be waking up from our dalliance with utopian technological visions. Legislators appear more willing to rein in Big Tech. Users are weary of being exploited, especially younger users who have spent their lives watching friends and family stressed in various ways by technology company manipulations.
Whether the forthcoming efforts to wrest control of our society from the hands of a dozen or so broligarchs will proceed gracefully or require more dramatic approaches will be defined by this election.
Let’s hope for the easier road a functioning republic invites us down.