Finally, to the question, which book to prioritise, the one by Gil Durán or this one by Klein and Taylor, my answer is that you should make the time to read both. The intertwined issues both books address are deeply important; you owe it to yourself to be well informed about them
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I don't agree with every recommendation in the book. For example, I advocate a different set of red lines constraining what AI can do. But most of it struck me as deeply sound, timely, and (despite all the wickedness it lays bare) rationally optimistic. I strongly recommend it.
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Core practice 3: Corporate-State Merger:
Fusing corporate power with state authority while actively violently suppressing labour unions and the left. -
Core practice 2: Deflection of Anger:
Channeling mass socioeconomic despair and public fury downward at vulnerable scapegoats (such as immigrants) rather than upward at the corporate system and privileged elites; -
Core practice 1: The In-Group vs. Out-Group:
Establishing a sharp human hierarchy, stripping citizenship, and engineering two different sets of laws; -
By the way, if you're tempted to complain that "it's an insult to use the F-word to describe these modern-day forces", I urge you to read what the book says about the evolution of fascism, with different forms in different times, but also with three core "through line" practices:
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Klein and Taylor also analyse the growing instabilities and conflicts within supporters (and former supporters) of end time fascism. This provides another reason to be optimistic that the scandalous wrong turns recently taken in different locales can soon be reversed
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Thus the book reviews remarkable episodes of resistance in Memphis, Venice, Minnesota, and New York; it also draws on lessons from the movements for Civil Rights, Nuclear Disarmament, and Unionisation - and also reflects on opposition to 1930s fascism
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Happily, there's a lot more to this book than a litany of despair. There are also inspiring examples of how broader coalitions have supported each other to resist the divisiveness of apocalyptic fundamentalists, Big Money oligarchs, and militarised ethnozealots
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Time and again I found myself wondering: why did I not know about these things already? Of course, I was aware of relevant news coverage over the years, but Klein and Taylor picked out many truly worrying aspects that somehow had previously escaped my attention
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However, Klein and Taylor highlight two additional strands, each of which I had previously underestimated: passionate religious desires to accelerate activities in and around Jerusalem (such as building a "third temple"), and people obsessed with "great replacement" ideologies
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The authors, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, write grippingly, with a sharp eye for history, a powerful turn of phrase, and a rich selection of narratives featuring individuals (whether heroic or deplorable) that illustrate their wider themes
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"End Times Fascism" is outstanding. At times, it left me enraged at the appalling duplicity and selfishness of the end times fascists who have recently attained far too much power and influence. But it also left me with hope for how these horrific forces can be overcome
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"Maybe some people are so venal that they can’t imagine anyone truly caring about the welfare of humanity, but they should stop projecting this on everyone else. The experts are warning you that AI could kill you because they think AI could kill you. Many of them have made personal sacrifices to get the message out. Stop adding thumbtacks to your conspiracy corkboard and take their message seriously." https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/ai-safety-is-not-a-corporate-plot
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The second video is interviews with students who did not want their faces on camera: