The Post-State Billionaire, Part 4B: The Myth of Innovation
Billionaires mythologize disruption to mask control. It’s not innovation. It’s extraction with good PR. The real future is built by us — not bought.
TL;DR
“Disruption” isn’t progress; it’s the new propaganda of empire. Billionaires weaponize the myth of innovation to justify monopolies, crush public systems, and disguise authoritarian consolidation as tech genius. They didn’t build the future. They stole the present. If we want it back, we need to stop worshipping their lies and start building our own tools.
Every empire needs a story. The British had the white man's burden. The Romans had civilization. The post-state billionaires? They have disruption.
The myth of innovation is their founding scripture. It sanctifies theft, glamorizes monopoly, and excuses harm.
Worst of all, it makes people believe that being governed by capital is not only inevitable but also good.
The Cult of the Innovator
We are told that Elon Musk is a genius. That Peter Thiel is a visionary. That Mark Zuckerberg built a global village.
They are not geniuses. They are monopolists. Empire builders. Extraction lords with better UX.
Musk didn’t invent Tesla. He bought it.
Zuckerberg didn’t code Facebook alone. He absorbed competitors.
Thiel invests in destruction: of governments, of institutions, of journalism, of democracy itself.
These men aren’t creating the future. They’re colonizing the present.
Disruption as Doctrine
Disruption used to mean innovation. Now, it means breaking everything that protects people, monetizing the chaos, and calling it freedom.
Uber “disrupted” labor rights.
Airbnb “disrupted” housing stability.
Facebook “disrupted” democracy.
OpenAI is disrupting the concept of authorship with zero accountability.
This isn’t innovation. It’s plunder with a pitch deck.
The Real Play: Authoritarian Consolidation
The playbook is the same every time:
Break a public system (transport, media, education).
Offer a private alternative (cheaper, faster, addictive).
Harvest data and crush competition.
Become indispensable.
Start shaping policy.
That’s not disruption. That’s counter-democratic consolidation hiding behind an app.
Historical Echoes: The Empire Always Lies
Railroad barons in the 1800s called themselves “civilizers” — while destroying Indigenous communities and bribing governments.
Telecom monopolies promised connection while building exclusion.
Silicon Valley promised openness, but it delivered oligarchy.
Every empire thinks it’s special. Every empire writes its own myth.
And every empire eventually overreaches.
The Real Innovators? We Are.
Real innovation isn’t about extraction. It’s about liberation:
Mesh networks that bypass centralized control.
Worker-owned co-ops that build sustainable tech.
Open-source protocols that resist capture.
Billionaires don’t build the future. They steal it. Take it back.
Action (Even If It Feels Small or Impossible):
Tell a different story.
Share alternatives to tech overlords.
Fund creators who build tools, not traps.
Teach the history of monopolies.
Call bullshit on disruption when it just means exploitation.
If we don’t tell the story, they will. And theirs always ends in a lie.
Next up: The Post-State Billionaire, Part 5A: Can Sovereign Tech Be Reclaimed?
