BY JED JALECO DEL ROSARIO
AN INTERESTING part of Donald Trump’s 2024 United States’ presidential election campaign was how it was supported by major figures in the American Tech industry, such as Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Vivek Ramaswamy and Marc Andreessen.
What makes these figures important to Trump and his followers is that they are members of a small but growing elite, whose interests may not be entirely aligned with the established American political establishment.
Traditionally, elites were either warriors, merchants/bankers, priests/scholars or bureaucrats. Tech elites are not like any of these categories, though they may share certain characteristics with merchants-bankers.
What makes these figures different from traditional merchant elites is that they are also driven by tech-centered ideology. Musk, for example, wants to go to Mars. Andreessen is a techno-optimist (Google it if you are interested). And, of course, many “tech-bros” love Bitcoin, and its potential for transforming society. In contrast, merchant elites are mostly interested in profit, and may or may not shy away from the tech industry due to its high risk nature.
Tech elites, however, are almost unique to the US and are unlikely to pop up in other countries in the foreseeable future. For starters, a country will need a sizeable tech industry before it can start creating tech-elites.
China potentially had some in the form of Jack Ma, for example, but it decided he was too much of a threat to their power.
European countries have the potential to create their own domestic tech elites but from what I’m seeing right now, they are being undermined by European Union regulations.
There is also Taiwan and South Korea but other than Terry Guo who tried to run for president, I haven’t seen a major figure from these countries.
The Philippines does not have a sizeable tech industry, of course, and the tech companies we do have, like PLDT or Globe, aren’t likely to produce a charismatic figure like Elon Musk any time soon. So no tech elites for us either.
Regardless, I think tech elites will flourish in the 21st century, possibly replacing the bureaucratic/journalist classes that arose in the 20th century. Trump’s 2024 election may be a herald of things to come./PN
