Hark, for thy Lord buildeth platformes

The 19th-century historian Thomas Carlyle described a new aristocracy of powerful industrialists—Captains of Industry—whom he saw as commanding the chaotic energies of their age. His commentary was on an era he viewed as devoid of genuine heroes, riddled with pretense, and lacking wisdom. So, essentially the same as today.

The corporations run by the likes of Elon, Jeff, and Zuck are not merely commercial; they are the foundational pillars of 21st-century imperial power. SpaceX is a primary partner for NASA and the Pentagon; AWS hosts vast amounts of government data; and Meta’s platforms are powerful vectors of cultural influence.

Those businesses and platforms exist in symbiosis with the state. The immense leverage afforded to those Captains of Industry is not a structural glitch, or a challenge to state power; it is an optimized feature. Their speed and opaqueness are invaluable, allowing the state to execute strategies that would otherwise be tied up for years in oversight and bureaucracy. They might actually be more like Roman generals than monopolists of the Gilded Age.

It’s not an empire, it’s a synergistic ecosystem.

Caesar and Pompey, operating on the frontiers, wielded personal authority over legions and territories, all in the service of expanding the imperium. The Senate needed their conquests for the security and glory of Rome, and thus granted them the necessary autonomy. The general’s eventual Triumph was the ultimate public spectacle—a piece of political theatre that simultaneously celebrated state power and affirmed his own indispensable, almost sovereign, status.

Public spectacles of a different kind—kayfabe conflicts between the state and big tech—can masks this deep and cynical alignment of interests. Consider the ritual of Antitrust Theatre. On camera, politicians project righteous fury, speaking of “monopolistic power” and “the fabric of our democracy at stake.” The public sees their representatives demonstrate authority. Once the cameras are off, what truly changes?

The titan absorbs some minor blow in exchange for maintaining its fundamental position. The codependence is the reality, unavoidable.

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