Paulina Borsook, a pioneering Wired magazine writer, critiqued the libertarian culture in tech in her 2000 book Cyberselfish. She warned of its influence on American society, highlighting concerns such as decreased empathy, the normalization of surveillance capitalism, and environmental negligence due to AI. Recently, a resurgence of interest in her work has been noted, with copies of Cyberselfish becoming scarce. Borsook’s critiques have sparked discussions on the negative impacts of Big Tech, though the arguments against libertarianism she presents remain unrefined and based on misunderstandings of its principles. Her observations reflect broader societal anxieties about wealth concentration among tech leaders and the implications of government collaboration. While Borsook’s work was timely, claiming it as groundbreaking misses the context of existing critiques of libertarianism in tech. This revival suggests ongoing confusion and a lack of nuanced understanding of these complex ideological issues, reinforcing her original arguments while highlighting persistent ignorance about libertarian thought.
