New York Magazine - USA (2019-11-11)

64 newyork| november11–24, 2019

TheU.S.Will BuyGreenlandand

Us e It to ResettleMiami

The Internet Will

Make Us Act Like

Medieval Peasants

INLATEAUGUST,a black-sailedshipappeared

intheharborcarryinga 16-year-oldvisionary, a

girlwhohadsailedfromthefarnorthacrossa

great sea.A massofcity-dwellersandtravelers,

enthralledbyherprophecies,gatheredtowel-

comeher.Shehadcometospeaktothenations

of Earth,tocastigateusforourvanitiesandwarn

usof a loomingapocalypse.“Therewere fourgen-

erationsthere cheeringandchantingthat they

lovedher,” thewriterDeanKissickobserved.

“Whenshecameashore, it feltmessianic.”

I can’t havebeentheonlypersonwhofelt,

whenGretaThunbergmadelandfallinNew

YorkCity inlate summer, asthoughI were living

throughtheearlypagesofa fantasyepic.Look-

ingaroundlately, I amremindedlessoftenof

WilliamGibson’s cyberpunkfuture thanof

J.R.R.Tolkien’s fantasticalpast, lessoftechnol-

ogy andcyberneticsthanofmagicandendof

days.Theinternet doesn’t seemtobeturningus

intosophisticatedcyborgssomuchascrude

medieval peasantsentrancedbyanever-present

realmofspiritsandcaptivetodistantautocratic

landlords.What if wearen’tbeingaccelerated

intoa cyberpunkfuture somuchasthrowninto

somefantasticalpremodernpast?

Inmy owndailylife,I alreadyengage con-

stantlywithmagicalforcesbothsinisterand

benevolent.I scry throughcrystalmy enemies’

movementsfromafar.(Thatis,I hate-follow

peopleonInstagram.)I readstoriesabout

cursedsymbolssopowerfulthey renderincom-

municativeanyonewhogazesuponthem.(That

is,Unicodeglyphsthat crashyouriPhone.)

I re fusetowritethenamesofmythicalfoesfor

fearofbiddingthemtomypresence,theway

proto-Germanictribespeopleusedtheeuphe-

mistictermbrownfor“bear”toavoidsummon-

ingone.(That is,I intentionallyobfuscate

wordslikeGamergatewhenwritingthemon

Twitter.)I performsuperstitiousritualstowin

theapprovalofdemons.(Thatis,well,dae-

mons,theautonomousbackgroundprograms

onwhichmoderncomputingis built.)

Thisstrangedanceofritualandsuperstition

willbecomeonlymorepronouncedoverthe

nextdecade.Thankstoubiquitous smart-

phonesandcellulardata,theinternet hasdevel-

opedintoa kindofsupernaturallayerset atop

everydaylife,aneasilyaccessiblerealmoffear-

somepower,feverishvisions,andapocalyptic

spiritualbattle.ThemedievalistRichard Wun-

derlihasdescribedtheworldof15th-century

peasantsas“enchanted”—“boundedbya mere

translucent,porousbarrierthat ledtothemore

powerfulrealmofspirits,devils,angels,and

saints,”whichdoesn’t soundaltogetherdifferent

froma worldinwhicha literallytranslucent

barrierseparatesmefromtrollsanddaemons

andpop-stariconsintowhoseTwittermentions

andInstagramcommentsI mightmake quasi-

religiouspilgrimage.

Thestructureoftheinternet is headedtoward

anarrangementthecybersecurityexpertBruce

Schneiercalls“digitalfeudalism,” throughwhich

thegreat landlords,platformslike Googleand

Facebook,“are becomingourfeudallords,and

wearebecomingtheirvassals.”We willprovide

themwiththedata-fruitsofourbrowsing,ina

nominalex changeforvagueassurancesoftheir

protectionfromdata-breachmarauders.The

senseofpowerlessnessyoumightalreadyfeelin

thefaceofa megaplatform’s opaquealgorithmic

justice—andthesenseofmysterysuchworkings



Thunberg

in Sweden.

PHOTOGRAPH: ANNA TÄRNHUVUD

AUG 16

The Wall Street
Journal reports
Trump wants
Greenland.

AUG 28

Greta Thunberg
arrives in
New York City.