The term benevolent racism sounds like an oxymoron—how can racism be “benevolent”? But look deeper, and you’ll see it’s a real phenomenon. It’s the kind of racism that wraps itself in the language of protection, guidance, and well-meaning paternalism. It doesn’t announce itself with open hostility but with soft power—rules that claim to be for your own good, structures that insist they know what’s best for you.
It echoes feudalism, where the ruling class justified its dominance by claiming to protect and provide for the peasantry. It wasn’t outright slavery, but it functionally ensured that a select few controlled land, wealth, and opportunity while everyone else remained dependent. Today, this same dynamic is creeping into our digital world under the guise of techno-fascism, where power is centralized under an elite ruling class of technocrats and AI-driven systems that define reality itself.
Benevolent Racism: Control Disguised as Care
Benevolent racism presents itself as concern for the marginalized rather than explicit discrimination. It operates under the assumption that certain racial or social groups cannot succeed without external intervention. You see it in:
- Corporate DEI Policies – Where companies implement diversity quotas, not out of genuine inclusion, but because they believe certain groups can’t compete on merit alone.
- Censorship for Your Own Good – The idea that some voices should be amplified while others should be suppressed, all in the name of “protecting communities”, but in reality, it decides who gets to shape the narrative.
- Media Narratives – News outlets that claim to stand for equality but treat certain groups as perpetual victims, reinforcing the idea that they must always be rescued rather than empowered.
The common thread? A power structure that presents itself as your savior, deciding what is acceptable thought, action, and even success.
The Feudal Parallel: The Illusion of Protection
Feudalism worked on a similar principle. Lords claimed they protected their vassals by offering them land and sustenance in exchange for loyalty and obedience. It was framed as a duty of care, but in reality, it was an economic and social trap—one where mobility was almost impossible, and power remained locked in the hands of the few.
- Peasants were given land, but only if they served the interests of the ruling class.
- Rights were granted, but only if they aligned with the interests of the feudal elite.
- The narrative was about stability, but the reality was about control.
This is where techno-fascism enters the picture.
Techno-Fascism: The Algorithm as the New Overlord
Techno-fascism isn’t about jackboots and military coups. It’s about soft control, using technology as the new feudal order. Instead of knights enforcing the will of the king, we now have algorithms deciding who gets seen, who gets heard, and who gets access to opportunity.
- AI as the Gatekeeper – Whether it’s job applications, social media reach, or financial lending, AI is making the decisions. And these systems are built by an elite who decide the “correct” values to encode into them.
- Corporate Serfdom – Gig economy workers, content creators, and even software developers now live in a digital feudal system, where tech platforms act as lords, dictating terms, extracting value, and changing the rules whenever they want.
- Surveillance as a Safety Net – “We monitor you for your own protection.” Whether it’s social credit scores in China or Western tech firms tracking behavior, the argument is always the same: We know what’s best for you.
Just like feudalism and benevolent racism, techno-fascism thrives on creating dependence. It does not outright enslave—it merely ensures that alternative paths do not exist.
The Way Out
The antidote is individual agency—breaking out of the structures that define and control opportunity.
- Decentralization – Moving away from centralized platforms that dictate what is acceptable and relying on distributed systems where control is in the hands of individuals.
- Self-Sufficiency – The more dependent we are on corporate systems for survival, the less power we have. Feudalism broke down when people found ways to own and control their own production—the same applies today.
- Questioning Narratives – Benevolent racism, feudalism, and techno-fascism all sell a utopian vision that benefits the ruling class. The only way to resist is to think critically and avoid easy ideological traps.
The biggest lie of all is that this system is for our own good—just as feudalism was “for the peasants,” just as censorship is “for our protection,” and just as AI-driven decision-making is “for efficiency.” The moment we stop accepting that premise, the system loses power.