REVIEW: Paul Mason - Man vs Machine • reviewsphere

Despite its links to the investment management firm Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh International Book Festival has always been rather left-of-centre, last year inviting Jeremy Corbyn, Yanis Varoufakis and Terry Eagleton to speak. This year is no different, with Paul Mason gracing the stage of the New York Times Main Theatre. In a conversation chaired by the Herald writer Ruth Wishart, the left-wing political commentator discussed his latest book: Clear Bright Future: A Radical Defence of the Human Being. It’s a fascinating topic, building on themes previously explored in his work PostCapitalism: A Guide to Our Future.

In a short introduction, Mason – described by Wishart as a kind of “political detective” – declared: “The world’s on fire. The Amazon is literally on fire and the Arctic is melting.” Unfortunately, the political system, in Mason’s opinion, cannot deal with this, resulting in a breakdown of the global multilateral system.

Mason identified three interlinked crises: An economic, a political and a technological crisis. It is this third crisis that forms the key concern of Mason’s book: His worry that artificial life will attempt to supplant humanity as the dominant ‘lifeform’ on this planet. It’s a concern also touched upon by Jeanette Winterson in her talk at the Book Festival.

And yet, despite the urgent relevancy of this topic, most of the subsequent discussion between Mason and Wishart was not about technology at all. Instead, Mason touched upon the global rise of the far right, arguing that it was caused, not by the economic deprivations of the working classes, but rather by violent misogyny and racism. The former, Mason argued, is in large part the fault of videogames, referencing the so-called ‘Gamergate’ controversy. Also to blame for many people’s lack of trust in democracy and science is the fatalism born out of neoliberalism.

The values of the Enlightenment are at stake, according to Mason, who is proud to defend those values and to stick up for the European Union, despite having previously criticised it. As for what it is to be done to combat the destructive threat of the far right, Mason advised that reading the works of German philosopher Hannah Arendt is a good place to start. An alliance between the left and the centre ground is also desperately needed, and this led Mason onto the big elephant in the room: Brexit.

Mason supports Britain remaining in the EU, and he believes that the Labour Party needs to do more to stop Brexit from happening. Otherwise, Mason warned, Boris Johnson could win the next election, which would in his eyes spell catastrophe for the country. Mason expressed his hope that Jeremy Corbyn will become Prime Minister, but said that he is also open to someone else taking over as a caretaker leader.

Despite the title of Mason’s new book, there wasn’t much clarity or brightness in this talk. Eschewing false optimism, Mason laid out in stark times the challenges facing the world today. It won’t be an easy fight, but it’s a necessary one.