The Machine We Built

Nobody sat down and decided that a generation would forget how to grow food, fix an engine, or settle a dispute without an app. It happened by increments, each one reasonable on its own: a delivery instead of a garden, a call centre instead of a neighbour, a platform instead of a plan.

This chapter names the machine we built — not to condemn it, but to see it clearly. Every convenience we accepted came bundled with a small transfer of capability, away from us and toward something we cannot inspect, repair, or vote out.