The exception is open source coders, but it’s getting more niche every day :(

Even the open source community tends to attract anarchists, libertarians, and fascists, both as users and developers, which can be attributed to the inclusive nature of open source technology. I find more FOSS advocates to hold socialist beliefs, especially in regards to protecting the freedoms of technology, including the the four essential freedoms from the GNU philosophy, digital media preservation, net neutrality, right to repair, and right to encryption. Those who especially care about owning the means of computing, passing code stewardship between developers and users, and realizing freedom through the collective are on the road towards socialism or are already there and beyond. Don’t forget that 83% of Americans supported net neutrality, more than 7 in 10 Americans want national data privacy laws, and over 80% of Americans want the right to repair their own equipment and to have the resources and documentation provided by the manufacturer to either independent repair professionals or the product owners.

It should be noted that open source is not free alone, and it is only free if (but not solely if) code can be given to a user with sufficient documentation and is written to be well-structured to make it feasible and accessible to understand and modify while ensuring the code is freely distributed and contributed to without corporations snatching the code for their own benefit and giving nothing in return. A free license is just the nominal aspect of freedom, whereas helping the end-user reach autonomy and self-determination with their own tools is the substantive.

Learning about Linux for the first time led me down the path to being a free and open source software and hardware advocate. I became more politically active in regards to technology. After net neutrality was repealed, I realized that our current system does not work for the majority of the people, and I began researching alternative governments and economies. This led me down towards technocracies (specifically the movements that proposed socialist-leaning ideas), The Venus Project, and The Zeitgeist Movement, which eased my transition into socialism and communism a few years later. I am a “lower middle class” IT contractor even though I have a 2 year degree in Computer Information Systems, which is essentially Computer Science. I am currently aiming towards pursuing an Electrical Engineering degree since that is the degree I was originally trying to pursue, but I unfortunately had to dropout of college multiple times as I struggled to make ends meet and had a hard time managing my Autism/ADHD as an adult. I was able to complete my 2 year degree with flying colors since my mind was more developed, I acquired an affordable apartment, I had support from my SO (now wife), my tuition was completely paid for, and the degree was completely online. Unfortunately, it did not help me progress my career, but my mother said she is willing to invest in my education if she makes enough from her settlement for her permanent disability from Amazon, which is why I am fortunate enough to even consider going back to school.

My dream goal is to start a semiconductor manufacturing cooperative focused on developing a completely libre (likely to be licensed under AGPLv3) architecture (either using RISC-V or developing my own instruction set) designed for high performance motherboards and chipsets (and more). I want to ensure people have full sovereignty of their own devices from their hardware to their software, especially to help protect against surveillance of socialist movements and potentially revolutions. I also want to make my devices as modular as possible to be resistant against needless e-waste and to push actual innovation in the tech sector, which would hopefully make computers more affordable, interoperable, easily upgradeable, and longer-lasting to the general public. I also want the cooperative to start immediately with its own union to ensure redundancy in workers’ protections and to hopefully expand the union into other businesses. I am also interested in quantum computing, and I would like to specialize in this field to provide quantum computing to the public to ensure people have access to, for example, quantum encryption to be resistant against data mining and surveillance. I also have thought about certain programs for my business, including a “bartering system” available to the public, where people can trade materials and equipment (for example, to help expand the facility) in exchange for my devices. This way I can help build and improve poor communities as well as be resistant towards relying on profits in a capitalist system and to avoid being acquired (which I absolutely will fight tooth and nail to prevent, even if it means the collapse of the business). I also want to provide other means for people to pursue a career within my business as well as improve digital literacy in the general public by creating educational programs made freely available. I don’t know if there will be a revolution before or after I achieve this, but I am working towards this goal to help as many people as I can (I have recently started the process of becoming a member of the PSL as I have been wanting to be more active in the socialist movement in the meantime, especially if my goals never come to fruition, leaving my efforts wasted).

I apologize for going on a tangent. The point I was meaning to come to is to not lose hope. I once fell for right-wing ideologies, even during my gradual transition to becoming a Marxist-Leninist (I still need to read theory). Maybe being poor and neurodivergent made it easier for me to deconstruct the propaganda I was fed during my childhood, but I believe that making leaps and sacrifices and going into rabbit holes, such as my transition to being a FOSS user and advocate, then my transition to resource-based economies and learning about the atrocities of the US made to protect its inefficient, destructive, imperialist system and hegemony, and my transition towards communism (solidifying my understanding of the world gained from my previous transitions), helped me overcome years of indoctrination. Perhaps a similar path can help other confused techies become socialists, too.