This is a difficult topic because on the one hand I don’t believe banning weapons addresses the root problems of violence in the first place (access to automatic weapons in the USA has decreased yet mass shooting are way up), but at the same time recent events have shown that despite being the most armed populace in the world, U.S americans refuse to even lift a finger while people are being ripped off the streets and shoved through concentration camps.

An armed people can still be a docile people.

I will mention though, even with bans- it is extremely easy to produce automatic firearms both conventional and 3-printed. I’m not convinced that a ban would be effective at hindering mass shooters in the U.S. We can bring up the statistics of other countries that lack the same firearm access of the US but I’m not sure those are apples to apples comparisons given the differences in material conditions.

Trust that I agree with you on this, I use the word “master” intentionally though- as we are subjected to their whims without any say in the matter.

There are also many of us who are (unwittingly) dependent or addicted to their products / services. You and I both know plenty of people who give into almost every impulse incentivized by these products, especially when in the form of entertainment.

Our communities are now choc full of slaves and solicitors- a master is an enemy yes, but only when his slaves know who owns them.

It will be as bad as it is now with an even higher intensity.

We will see it continue to be used as a substitute for research, learning, critical or even surface level thinking, and interpersonal relationships.

If and when our masters create an AI that is actually intelligent, and maybe even sentient as depicted in movies- it will be a thing that provides biased judgments behind a veneer of perceived objectivity due to its artificial nature. People will see it as a persona completely divorced from the prejudices of its creators as they do now with chat GPT. And who ever can influence this new “objective” truth will wield considerable power.