The digital cage

Slavery has become elegant. It no longer needs visible chains or masters with faces: it operates through algorithms that predict and shape our desires, through screens that keep us as willing captives. Power is no longer exercised through punishment but through seduction. Every 'like', every 'click', every digital interaction reinforces the invisible bars of our comfortable prison.

The new control devices are so sophisticated that they make us believe we're freer than ever. We voluntarily share every aspect of our lives, gladly hand over our most intimate data, cheerfully build our own digital chains. Surveillance no longer needs spies: we have smartphones that do that work for it.

The truly perverse aspect of this system is that it makes us love our servitude. We crave the next device that will monitor us better, we eagerly await the next update that will refine our consumer profile. Modern slavery doesn't just come with wifi included: it comes with a waiting list and fans camping outside stores to be the first ones to chain themselves.