RJ Eskow on Technomunicipalism, Democratic Data Governance, and AI as a Collective Resource
By
Matteo Rossi MacDermant
Crusty in the right places. Worth the chew.
Summary
A conversation with RJ Eskow — writer, strategist, and former Bernie Sanders speechwriter — covering technomunicipalism, democratic governance of city data, the history of privatized public space, and the concept of AI as a collective resource built on humanity's labor. The discussion explores progressive technology policy and left political frameworks for the digital age.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledRJ Eskow brings decades of experience across health economics, systems design, corporate data, and left politics to bear on some of the defining questions of this moment.
The conversation moves from technomunicipalism and the democratic governance of city data, to the history of privatized public space.
We discuss what it would mean to treat large [language models] as a collective resource built on the labor of all humanity.
You might also wanna read
AI leaders' grand "Humanity" rhetoric erodes public trust, echoing nuclear industry's mistakes
The article examines how AI executives, particularly OpenAI's Greg Brockman, frame their work in grand, humanity-scale terms while making po
The Case for Human-Centered Websites in an AI-Dominated Social Media Landscape
The author reflects on the proliferation of AI-generated content in social media feeds, particularly noticing suspicious cat videos that app

Bernie Sanders Argues for Public Ownership of Half of Major AI Companies
Senator Bernie Sanders argues that AI will be the most transformational technology in history, with profound impacts on the economy, democra
sanders.senate.gov·4d agoReflecting on the Societal Impact of AI Development
The article reflects on the pervasive discourse around AI, highlighting the polarized opinions between AI evangelists and skeptics. It quest
Former AI Researcher Critiques AI Hype and Its Societal Implications
The article features an interview with Bhaskar Mitra, a former big tech researcher specializing in machine learning and AI, who critiques th
The Rise of Anti-Democratic Ideology in Silicon Valley: Peter Thiel and Technofascism
This article examines the rise of anti-democratic, authoritarian political ideologies within Silicon Valley's tech elite, focusing on Peter
