In the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx discovers a contradiction that will haunt the whole development of his critique of capitalism: workers build an expanding world of wealth, machinery, knowledge and social power that returns to rule them as capital. This review follows that insight from wages and estranged labour through private property, colonial history, slavery, money, communism, Hegel and revolutionary humanism. It argues that the manuscripts are neither immature philosophy nor finished Marxism, but a breakthrough under pressure—one already forcing “Man” into history and asking the question that still matters: who controls humanity’s accumulated powers?
The Guardrails Are a Cage: AI, Surplus Humanity, and the Technofascist State
Hundreds of economists warn that artificial intelligence could displace millions of workers, but their petition mistakes a ruling-class offensive for a technical oversight. AI is already being used to reduce workforces, intensify surveillance, automate discipline, exclude applicants, restrict public benefits, and strengthen military and counterinsurgency systems. The real danger is not that machines may escape human control, but that monopoly capital is using them to reduce its dependence on labor while expanding the apparatus needed to manage those it renders surplus. Against this technofascist future, workers are organizing to seize control over deployment, data, productivity, and power.