Canadian Accelerationism
Accelerationism is a philosophy that seeks to leverage rapid socio-economic and technological change as a driving force to radically transform society. Effective Accelerationism, in particular, advocates for actively accelerating these trends through strategic interventions to catalyze paradigm shifts beyond the constraints of our current systems. As Canada grapples with challenges like inequality, climate change, and technological disruption, we should explore how accelerationist principles could be applied to build a more advanced society.
History is boring
The roots of accelerationism can be traced back to various 20th century intellectual movements, including strands of Marxism that sought to intensify capitalist contradictions to hasten its eventual demise, the cybernetic visions of thinkers like Norbert Wiener, and the postmodern critiques of philosophers like Deleuze and Guattari. At its core is the idea that rather than resisting the alienating forces of technology and capital, we should embrace and repurpose them as vehicles for human freedom. The Industrial Revolution exemplified how rapidly cascading change can reshape all aspects of society, for better or worse. In Canada, projects like the nation-building transcontinental railway paralleled this pattern of profound transformation driven by technological and economic acceleration.
Unique Positioning
With our diverse and educated population, well-developed technological infrastructure, and progressive political traditions, Canada is uniquely positioned to explore accelerationist strategies. Our openness to immigration, commitment to public research and development, and small but growing (too slowly) pockets of innovation in fields like AI and green energy align well with accelerationist ideals of rapidly advancing human potential through technology. We've been laying the groundwork for this since the country was founded, but we cannot continue to lay ground, now is time to build the mansion.
Accelerationism would quite dramatically disrupt traditional models of governance and public institutions. Distributed ledgers, AI decision support, liquid democracy platforms and other innovations offer possibilities for radically more transparent, efficient, and participatory governing systems. We can now, today, in 2024, move beyond opaque bureaucracies and representative democracies to more agile "government as a platform" models that are antifragile to changing contexts. However, this acceleration also raises concerns over centralization of power by unaccountable technocratic elites, erosion of human agency, and a MASSIVE explosion of inequality as the pace of change outstrips our ability to update norms and policies. Careful system design would be critical to prevent the monopolization of accelerationist tools as instruments of control. That said, none of this is particularly difficult, we'd just need to do it.
Preparing for the worst to make it to the best.
The economic implications of accelerationism are immense and charged with both promise and peril. The convergence of AI, automation, additive manufacturing, and other exponential technologies could boost Canadian productivity and enable the flourishing of novel industries creating shared abundance...or it could hollow out traditional jobs leading to greater precaritization and wealth stratification. Bold policies like universal basic income, shortened work weeks, and portable benefit models may be needed to ensure the gains of an accelerated economy aren't captured by a narrow few. We must reimagine the roles of capital and labor to balance dynamism with security in this new landscape.
Society, the Environment, and Ethics
As accelerating technology rapidly reshapes the fabric of society, we face profound ethical questions demanding public deliberation. How do we thoughtfully steward powerfully emergent technologies like gene editing, brain-computer interfaces, and synthetic biology in alignment with human rights and democratic values? Can we leverage accelerated innovation to rapidly decarbonize and clean up environmental degradation, or will acceleration inevitably exacerbate our ecological overshoot? What vision of human flourishing should steer our accelerationist trajectory—a transhumanist embrace of overcoming biological limits through human augmentation, or a more holistic vision intertwining individual and ecological wellbeing?
World Stage
Harnessing the potential of accelerationism would propel Canada into a position of global leadership and influence. As an early mover adept at accelerating towards frontier domains like renewable energy, nanotechnology, and human-machine symbiosis, we would position ourselves as an agenda-setting hub of innovation attracting top talent and investment. However, acceleration may also precipitate global power shifts and geostrategic tensions as the pace of change is faster than existing governance frameworks and some nations race ahead while others are left behind. An accelerationist agenda demands careful multilateral cooperation and foresight regarding its impact on the global order.
Nuance
While fun, accelerationism is an ambitious and destabilizing idea that warrants exploring alternative or hybridized paths. Could we develop a more tempered, socially conscious model that thoughtfully harnesses accelerating technologies while embedding robust guardrails against their potential downsides?
In considering accelerationist strategies, we would be wise to study the example of South Korea's extraordinary economic rise. Through strategic investments in human capital and frontier research orchestrated by an entrepreneurial state and a hybrid-oligarchy, South Korea totally crushed it in just a few generations, going from an impoverished agrarian society to a global tech powerhouse. Of course, this unprecedented "Miracle on the Han River" was not without growing pains, from environmental degradation to rampant inequity and social unpredictability initially. Canada could potentially adapt aspects of this economic acceleration playbook—forward-thinking investments in areas like a revamped national AI strategy, advanced manufacturing, and renewable energy infrastructure married with policies like social wealth funds and education reform—to foster our own accelerated transformation while learning from South Korea's missteps.
A Vision for Canada
If we get it right, all Canadians would enjoy dramatically elevated living standards and opportunities for self-actualization in an accelerated future. If we get it catastrophically wrong, we may merely accelerate our way towards a dystopian precipice of ecological collapse, social fragmentation, and technological totalitarianism. Most forward-thinking analysts envision accelerating technological developments like advanced AI, ubiquitous robotics, Industry 4.0 manufacturing, and physical human enhancements disrupting LITERALLY every sector over the coming decades. Self-driving vehicles alone could upend energy, logistics, real estate, and urban design. Bioengineering breakthroughs may unlock radical life extension and human augmentation. In such a context, the influence of accelerationist thinking could become increasingly unavoidable—whether embraced proactively or not, the gears of change would only accelerate. Thoughtful governance and public participation in steering these trends should arguably be our top national priority.
Roadmap
Cultivate a rigorous national dialogue exploring accelerationist philosophy, scenarios, and policy toolkits through public forums, think tanks, and institutionalized foresight programs.
Invest heavily in rapidly upgrading our educational models and workforce training pipelines to prioritize STEM skills, innovation mindsets, and fluency with exponential technologies. Make school free, stop productizing education and marketing it globally.
Update our regulatory frameworks, civil rights doctrines, and institutional guardrails to proactively manage accelerating technologies in alignment with Canadian values like equity, autonomy, and environmental stewardship.
Take a leadership role in forging international governance of accelerating technologies through global collaboration on issues like AI ethics, geo-engineering governance, and technology transfer frameworks.
Reform economic policies and social safety nets for an accelerated world, exploring ideas like basic income, wealth funds, and reduced workweeks to ensure shared prosperity.
Accelerationism challenges us to rethink the forces shaping Canadian society and to explore new possibilities for long-term growth. It's a vision of Canada at the leading edge of innovation, harnessing accelerating technologies to solve global issues and empower all citizens with opportunity and abundance. But it's also a clarion call for clear-eyed engagement with the pitfalls of accelerating change—the risks of destabilization, disunity, power concentration, and losing our ethical moorings. We must approach accelerationism with both ambition and responsibility. The path we choose will be a defining legacy for future generations.
You can read my follow up post here, where my friend Joe the mailman provides a guest perspective on it.
As always, with love!
j.