Well, according to Quartz, basically “dark enlightenment” is a neo-fascist ideology to beware of, in which democratic governments are replaced by corporations.

What are the tenets of Dark Enlightenment theory? There are a few consistent themes, circling around technology, warfare, feudalism, corporate power, and racism. “It’s an acceleration of capitalism to a fascist point,” says Benjamin Noys, a critical theory professor at the University of Chichester and author of Malign Velocities: Accelerationism and Capitalism.

Land believes that advances in computing will enable dominant humans to merge with machines and become cybernetic super beings. He advocates for racial separation under the belief that “elites” will enhance their IQs by associating only with each other.

Capitalism has not yet been fully unleashed, he argues, and corporate power should become the organizing force in society. Land is vehemently against democracy, believing it restricts accountability and freedom. The world should do away with political power, according to Dark Enlightenment, and instead, society should break into tiny states, each effectively governed by a CEO.

I’m reminded of a lecture I attended by Paul Romer on his idea of “charter cities”. The basic idea was to create something that looked very much like a corporate state where virtually all institutions including politics would be subordinated to the maximization of economic growth. Now, I am not accusing Paul Romer of being a fascist. In fact, in his conception people from any country can be part of the charter city, as long as they have skills and follow norms of behavior designed to maximize economic growth. But one thing his concept does appear to share is that those norms of behavior are imposed from above, and the only free choice people have is that society is a choice to either be part of it or not.