Automation and the Rise of Repression | Adelaide News

Adelaide News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Aug 25, 2026 · 1m

As automation displaces workers and widens inequality, economists warn that governments may turn to repression rather than redistribution — because repression has fixed costs while wealth redistribution escalates with each new wave of automation. This chilling theory, echoing tech leaders’ visions of surveillance-heavy control, suggests democracies could erode under pressure from job loss and social unrest, creating a feedback loop where technology fuels authoritarianism — and we’re already seeing the tools of control being deployed in real time. Listen in comfort:Get a discount on a Soli…