7 - Social Futures

Summary

The desire to maintain the sustainable development of humanity is widespread. In the present chapter, it is proposed that Alphabet’s capacity to shape this concern far outstrips that of most other organizations combined. Nevertheless, the megacorporation’s potential to sustain humanity’s development is not universally regarded as a net positive. In recognizing thus, the chapter posits that Alphabet’s current impact on our social futures should be conceived as simultaneously having a more authoritarian, and a more autonomous, element to it. Whilst the exact nature of Alphabet’s impact on our social futures remains to be seen, the chapter’s concluding summary emphasizes – in anticipation of the discussions that begin the book’s third and final part – that the megacorporation’s interest in sustaining our future existence is not just consistent with, but positively enabled by, the custodial role it plays with regards to our personal and social pasts.