The new feudal lords

Before delving into the reflection on the new feudalism, we need to reaffirm our optimism in the pursuit of the dream of an inclusive, just, and egalitarian world. That said, the first observation is that capitalism is experiencing one of its most perverse moments. Centuries separate feudalism from the present day, but the medieval past has never been so present among us. As in the era of feudal lords, the economic process we are experiencing today brings about an accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few, the feudal lords of modernity. If in the medieval past the socioeconomic organization was based on the concentration of land, today wealth is accumulated in the hands of the owners of large technological corporations.

It is unimaginable that after the milestones achieved following the Industrial Revolution, with robotization and now with artificial intelligence, we are witnessing a true regression that clearly equates us to the feudal Dark Ages, in which land ownership was the product of wealth and led humanity to a slave-owning relationship.

The model we are currently experiencing challenges the republican creation built through struggles throughout history, including those centered around democratic values, starting with the French Revolution. The new feudal lords go beyond the boundaries of national sovereignties, positioning themselves in a process without limits, with a slight difference compared to medieval feudalism. Before, the product of domination was land ownership, and today, it is technological platforms.

In this irrefutable observation, platforms control data, movements, and our choices, creating veritable interfaces of dependence and control, reminiscent of the cruelest portrait of medieval feudalism, where hearts and minds are usurped. Subjugation transcends national borders, a true erosion of national sovereignty, leading us to the conviction that we are sentenced to a slave-like process now dominated by big tech companies that flatten the public sphere of democratic debate.

If we delve deeper into the subject, some comparisons help us understand the scale of this market and the supreme power of the new feudal lords. Even knowing that values ​​can fluctuate according to the state of the financial market, published surveys show that, in 2024 alone, the five largest big tech companies experienced 5% growth. Together – Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google), Amazon, and Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) – they total more than US$10,513 trillion, more than four times the GDP of Brazil and greater than that of all of Latin America. With the recent launch of the Chinese company DeepSeek, the control over this sovereignty has become even more intense.

In this comparative valuation exercise, only Microsoft would be able to buy Petrobras and Vale. These new feudal overlords, considering only the four largest, accumulate, according to data published in the press, a fortune of US$ 887,3 billion, greater than the annual GDP of 175 countries. This entire environment is astonishing in the face of the harsh reality of small businesses in Brazil, especially for us who witness the efforts of these entrepreneurs, who wake up every morning and make their daily survival through their own talent.

I align myself with the thoughts in defense of 'technodemocracy' in the fight against the current slave-owning model, which creates the illusion that the world has changed, that technology has brought quality of life. In a scenario where 95% of Brazilian companies are small businesses, we must work to ensure that the achievements of all humanity are not lost due to greed, exploitation, underemployment, and the breakdown of the social fabric, where a few make a fortune and dominate at the expense of the small, and furthermore, undermine the sovereign achievements of nations and the republican model.