Johannesburg – Imagine Gugu Lourie, the South African columnist well-known for dissecting business, technology, and policy, unexpectedly finding himself in a Black Mirror episode where his existence hinges on a monthly subscription.
This scenario is not as far-fetched as it appears.
The dystopian anthology Black Mirror, created by Charlie Brooker, has persistently reflected the unsettling realities of our technology-centric world.
In its seventh season, the show critiques , a phenomenon already permeating our daily lives.
For someone like Gugu, who explores the intersections of commerce and the digital landscape, this scenario feels hauntingly pertinent.
From streaming services to AI applications, subscriptions have become the cornerstone of contemporary capitalism.
But what happens when mere survival is locked behind a paywall?
The latest episode of Netflix’s Black Mirror, “Common People,” investigates this dystopia through Amanda, a woman whose consciousness is sustained by a medical technology company – but at a steep price.
As her subscription costs soar, she and her husband spiral into desperation, revealing the dehumanizing elements of the “everything-as-a-service” model.
Could Gugu, a commentator on Africa’s digital growth, find himself in a similar bleak situation?
Imagine his exclusive insights becoming available only through escalating paywalls, his independence overshadowed by corporate algorithms.
It’s a chilling thought – but one that Black Mirror urges us to contemplate.
South Africa, with its emerging fintech and subscription-based economy, is not immune to these challenges.
As companies endorse rental models over ownership, whether for cars or cloud services, the risk of exploitation heightens.
Gugu’s pieces often illuminate the uneven power structures within technology; what if the next stage leads to outright human commodification?
While the most recent season of Black Mirror on Netflix may not unveil revolutionary insights, its warnings are urgent: we must resist allowing convenience to erode our liberties.
One thing is certain: in a world where even survival demands a subscription, we’re all just one missed payment away from disaster.
In Black Mirror‘s “Common People” (Season 7), Rivermind turns Amanda into a living advertisement as part of its growing subscription model.
While Black Mirror accentuates these dilemmas, the core threat – technology turning people into profit generators – is already evident (e.g., data mining, microtransactions).
Rivermind is simply the extreme endpoint of this trajectory.
*This article was originally published in our sister publication techfinancials.co.za
