The Influence-Industrial Complex

During President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address he warned us of the military-industrial complex, which is a “network of institutions involved in the production of weapons and military technologies.”

Over the last few years, I’ve been warning people about the influence-industrial complex, which I define as a “network of major institutions involved in the production of influence and influence technologies.”

Hand grenades and handguns vs. hard drives and hard drugs.

We must be on guard against the influence-industrial complex — Big Media, Big Tech, Big Finance, Big Education, Big Healthcare, Big Government — because much like the military-industrial complex it’s a fear-mongering power-generation machine.

In the 21st century, hard power is much less powerful than soft power.

Due to technological advancements, the influence-industrial complex has been able to centralize control like never before in American history. Their soft power has made us softer and therefore even more reliant on them to think, move, and feel.