The New Colonialism: Power, Data, and the Transformation of Human Experience

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 13 February 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is an audio version of an essay on my substack, Process This. The essay explores how digital platforms have transformed human experience into a new form of colonialism. It discusses the historical evolution of the internet from a decentralized space to one controlled by tech giants, and highlights the data extraction, surveillance, and algorithmic governance that dominate modern digital spaces. By drawing parallels to historical colonialism, the essay outlines the systematic ways in which platforms explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate alternative ways of being social. It also examines the rise of a new digital aristocracy in Silicon Valley and the erosion of personal autonomy. Finally, it explores emerging forms of resistance and reimagination, emphasizing the need for digital wisdom, community-owned platforms, and new forms of digital literacy to reclaim human autonomy and genuine connection. I hope you enjoy it and consider supporting my work by joining 80k+ other people on Process This. You can read the entire essay HERE. Related Resources PODCAST -The Tech Takeover: Reimagining Connection in a Digital World on TNT where Tripp gets Bo's input on this essay BOOK - Data Grab: The New Colonialism of Big Tech and How to Fight Back by Ulises A. Mejias & Nick Couldry BOOK - The Space of the World: Can Human Solidarity Survive Social Media and What If It Can't? By Nick Couldry LECTURE - AI and the Tragedy of the Commons: a decolonial perspective with Ulises A. Mejias LECTURE - The Corporatization of Social Space by Nick Couldry A Five-Week Online Lenten Class w/ John Dominic Crossan Join us for a transformative 5-week Lenten journey on "Paul the Pharisee: Faith and Politics in a Divided World."This course examines the Apostle Paul as a Pharisee deeply engaged with the turbulent political and religious landscape of his time. Through the lens of his letters and historical context, we will explore Paul’s understanding of Jesus’ Life-Vision, his interpretation of the Execution-and-Resurrection, and their implications for nonviolence and faithful resistance against empire. Each week, we will delve into a specific aspect of Paul’s theology and legacy, reflecting on its relevance for our own age of autocracy and political turmoil. . For details and to sign-up for any donation, including 0, head over here. _____________________ Join our class - TRUTH IN TOUGH TIMES: Global Voices of Liberation This podcast is a Homebrewed Christianity production. Follow the Homebrewed Christianity, Theology Nerd Throwdown, & The Rise of Bonhoeffer podcasts for more theological goodness for your earbuds. Join over 80,000 other people by joining our Substack - Process This! Get instant access to over 45 classes at www.TheologyClass.com Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an essay I published on my substack,
0:05.4	Process this.substack.com,
0:08.4	titled the new colonialism, data, power,
0:12.8	and the transformation of human experience.
0:15.4	I hope you enjoy it.
0:19.0	And if you got thoughts, questions, and that kind of thing,
0:21.6	hit over to the Substack and let me know.
0:31.1	The Digital Frontier, where power becomes invisible.
0:50.3	Yeah. where power becomes invisible. When you woke up this morning, you likely checked your phone before doing anything else. This simple gesture, this daily genuflection to our digital devices, reveals more about our current
0:56.3	moment than we might imagine. Just as medieval Christians oriented their lives around the church bells,
1:02.2	we now orient ourselves around notification pings and social media updates. But unlike those church bells,
1:10.4	which called communities together in a physical space,
1:12.8	our digital rituals often pull us into vast territories of data extraction, where our very
1:18.3	experiences become commodities. To understand the scale of this transformation, consider that
1:24.6	Facebook's user base now exceeds the population of any single country in human history.
1:30.2	Google processes over 3.5 billion searches a day.
1:35.0	More than the number of prayers, even uttered, in all world's temples and churches combined.
1:41.6	These aren't just impressive statistics.
1:47.3	They represent unprecedented control over human attention and interaction. The tech giants that control these digital territories present
1:53.2	themselves as neutral facilitators of human connection, simply providing digital versions of
1:59.7	familiar public spaces like town squares or community centers.
2:04.1	But these comforting narrative masks a more troubling reality that we must understand if we hope to reclaim our digital future.
	...

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