Mao once boasted that power comes from the barrel of a gun. The power of the new dictators comes from the network, the CCTV and algorithm. Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey, not to mention Xi Xinping, wield the kind of all-encompassing power that Mao could only dream of.

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Punk rock philosopher. Liberalist contrarian. Grumpy old bastard. I grew up in a generational-Labor-voting family. I kept the faith long after the political left had abandoned it. In the last decade...