The original TV series “The Jetsons,” which aired from 1962 to 1963, is not easy to find in syndication. That’s too bad. It was a wonderful show.
The theme of this animated cartoon, set in the future, was that advanced technology would eventually make life much more convenient, but all the usual problems would still exist. Kids would still be annoying and expensive but ultimately delightful, jobs would still be arduous even if they only required a few hours of labor a week, bosses would still be officious, people would still get sick, and all the normal dynamics of human life would still be there.
This premise was the opposite of transhumanism. All that would really change in the future, the show suggested, is that everything would be speedier. The cars would fly. We would live in the clouds. We would have video phones. Robots would do the chores. Teachers would be electronic. We would travel with ease. Buildings would appear much more quickly, and be torn down more quickly, too.
There would still be cops on the beat, thieves on the loose, lessons to learn at school, and teenage daughters that spend too much money. Hilariously, the little robots flying around in the show always had puffs of smoke coming out of them, as if powered by natural gas. You still had to fuel them.
That’s what made the series so delightful. The future promises to be wonderful, the show indicated, but it won’t solve all our problems. Human nature itself would still be present, unchanged, with the usual challenges and dilemmas. The series both ramped up our expectations and dialed them back.
It was oddly realistic. We did eventually get video phones and electronic teachers, and work itself became less labor-intensive. But that only left us with the same old problems of quirky personalities, family instability, irritating coworkers, and capital depreciation (everything in the show was always being repaired).
In that way, the series perfectly captured the culture of a time and its forward vision.
In particular, I had not thought through the implications of the speedy conversion from analog to digital and just how fragile that would be. Nor had I considered the surveillance angle, much less the way our information would become commodified and sold to governments so they could oppress us even more. Finally, I had not imagined that the corporate leadership of the new digital world would be so compromised by involvement in government.
When I wrote the book, new technology struck me as representing nothing but liberation. I was wrong about that. I had not taken seriously the first lesson of “The Jetsons,” namely that all human problems will remain present in the future despite technological changes.
In my book, I mention briefly that the series was rebooted 20 years later, in the mid-1980s. It had better production values and some new characters. The biggest change was that the mood was darker. The gadgets changed from happy and friendly to vaguely burdensome, even to the point of being menacing.
The machines started talking back and even pushing back. Humans were less in charge and machines more so. They became a source of oppression rather than a universal force of emancipation. They seemed almost to have volition. In a brilliant anticipation of “artificial intelligence,” the show depicted humans losing some modicum of control as the machinery became ever more imposing.
I never liked the rebooted series, probably because it was suggesting something that I did not want to hear. Back in 2011, when my book came out, I did not believe that my glorious phone and my wonderful websites would eventually turn on me. But as it turns out, the reboot was right, as we began to learn some 20 years later.
It’s long past time that we all take a more critical look at the technologies that define our current era. The National Security Agency and the government have become major customers of all the main platforms—including Amazon, with its acres of servers for sale, and Microsoft, which sells so much to the state.
That’s just the start of it. Big tech giants have been found to be promoting, without being asked, visions of the world that are contrary to what a majority of Americans favor, as well as engaging in censorship surrounding key elections, showing themselves to be far from neutral.
For making available a relatively censorship-free venue, Elon Musk’s social media platform X has been pilloried by lawfare of all sorts. It became a pariah in the tech world simply by showing support for Donald Trump over the censors.
There are ways to push back by simply saying no. I used to love the “smart” speakers and home appliances made by Google, Amazon, and the like until I realized that they are, in effect, tools of surveillance. Yes, they are always listening, else they could not hear when you call them to attention. Once you think about it, the denials are preposterous.
Because I was such a fan, one company kept sending more appliances to me. At one point, I had three in my home in addition to the main one, and started giving them out to friends. One day, it dawned on me that this company was not being sweet and generous, but rather was acting in its own self-interest. I had gotten used to them, but I unplugged them all and threw them out.
Thereafter, I would have to check the time by looking instead of yelling, and have to stop and start music by standing up and moving around the room. It turned out to be just fine. I missed nothing about these contraptions. In fact, I found myself relaxing precisely because I did not have a surveillance device in my home! It felt private for the first time in many years.
Try it out yourself! I’ve turned off as many notifications as possible on my phone and have experienced blessed peace as a result. I’ve learned to eschew all “smart” products and choose old-fashioned ones. I’m much happier as a result. Similarly, there is a case for storing up some silver dimes and cash in case the empire of digits goes down.
There are many ways to secede from all the nonsense. It just takes a bit of effort.
What I want is to go back to the first iteration of “The Jetsons,” when the technology was fun. I’m hoping to avoid the second iteration, when the technology became a menacing threat to the good life.
Speaking of which, can President-elect Trump please restore the old Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building in Washington? It was one of the first Smithsonian museums erected. It was a glorious homage to the practical arts that made America great. It was closed and replaced during the Obama administration with a “Museum of the Future” filled with junk no one wants to see. The great things that filled the museum are now stored in a government warehouse somewhere. Maybe Trump can bring it back!
We’ll see. I don’t believe a president can solve all the problems with technology today. That leaves it to the rest of us to be more attentive and not blindly stumble into a dystopian world created by a bunch of irresponsible and freedom-hating tech titans. We should be in charge of the machines and not the reverse.
It’s good to be reminded of that from time to time.
