In these pages,¿ Ivan Illich writes¿ against the moral authority of professions, against economic "development" as an¿ unquestioned good, against schooling as the privileged path to learning, against the¿ subjugation¿ of desire¿ tö needs, and against ever¿ greater energy use. At¿ first glance, much of¿ this can seem passé. The prestige of the professions has withered; development is no longer¿debated but assumed;¿ education¿ has¿ migrated to platforms and certificates; needs have given¿ way to desires; energy expansion is¿ the unquestioned¿ fuel for¿ data centers¿ and planetary¿ competition.¿It seems the world¿ has¿ moved on.
And yet Illich's critique has not¿ dulled¿ -¿ it has¿ sharpened.
The first quarter of the twenty-first century shows¿ that Illich¿ did not¿ misread industrial¿ society.¿ His¿ warning¿ that life without access to commodities¿ and services¿ would become¿ "impossible or criminal" now reads less like provocation than description.¿ Economic¿ development has¿ intensified the¿ compulsory dependence on cash in a world¿ without¿ enough¿ paid jobs¿ -¿ whether in the United States¿ or in Uganda. Desire¿ is nö longer¿ suppressed by¿ need,¿ but¿ is¿ the¿ explicit product of¿ algorithmic persuasion, w¿hose raw material is the envious¿ fear of¿ missing out.¿ Professional authority¿ has mutated intö legal¿ power.¿ In many¿ Western¿ cities,¿ sleeping in vehicles¿ or¿ building informal shelters¿ invites fines or arrest.¿ Without credentials¿ one cannot¿ cut hair,¿ practice medicine, offer childcare,¿ or drive.¿ Access to work,¿ tö health,¿ tö money,¿ and¿ even¿ tö leisure¿ presumes continuous digital connectivity.¿ Commodity dependence¿ no longer needs to be sold as progress. It is¿ increasingly ä legal requirement.
These essays expose the deep logic¿ driving¿ the mutilation of¿ human capacities into managed¿ dependencies. What has changed¿ in fifty years¿ is¿ not the pertinence of the argument but the¿ brutality of the system¿ it describes.
With¿ characteristic understatement, Illich also gestures¿ toward¿ an¿ ungovernable¿ possibility:¿ engaging¿ debilitating¿ systems¿ by¿ playing with them, by¿ dis¿-respecting them.
If you think Illich is passé, try living without your smart phone for a week.
