ACXLW Meetup #111 — Post-American Internet & Everlasting Empire

Saturday, January 10, 2026 · 2:00 PM

Host: Michael Michalchik · Email: michaelmichalchik@gmail.com · Phone: (949) 375-2045
Location: 1970 Port Laurent Place, Newport Beach, CA 92660

Hello folks! We’re on for this Saturday. Two meaty topics: rebuilding an internet that resists “enshittification,” and what makes some empires feel… everlasting.

1) A Post-American, Enshittification-Resistant Internet (39C3 talk, Dec 28, 2025)

Text (transcript): https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/39c3/#the-new-coalition (Pluralistic)
Video: https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-a-post-american-enshittification-resistant-internet (Media CCC)
(YouTube mirror: https://youtu.be/39jsstmmUUs?si=vvD3MlRSn1am3L5T)

Summary (bullet points):

• Diagnosis: Platform capture leads to predictable degradation (“enshittification”) as firms squeeze users, business customers, and the public once lock-in is achieved. The talk frames this as a structural, not just cultural, failure. (Pluralistic)
• Levers that work: Interoperability/“adversarial interoperability,” genuine exit rights, and antimonopoly remedies are presented as necessary preconditions for a healthy internet—especially if U.S. tech policy remains captured. (Pluralistic)
• The “new coalition”: A proposed alliance of users, technologists, civil society, and regulators to normalize lawful reverse-engineering, mandate open standards, and coordinate counter-power. The post-American angle is that non-US blocs can lead if the U.S. won’t. (Pluralistic)

Three spicy questions:

1. If you could flip one policy switch (e.g., DMCA anticircumvention reform, mandated data portability, break-ups), which would most quickly de-enshittify the web—and what unintended harms could it cause? (Pluralistic)
2. Is a “post-American” internet a bug (fragmentation) or a feature (pluralism)? What values might be lost—or finally protected—outside U.S. hegemony? (Media CCC)
3. What could a community-scale intervention look like (co-ops, local mastodon instances, buyer’s clubs for devices with right-to-repair) that meaningfully shifts power? (Pluralistic)

2) The Everlasting Empire (review of Yuri Pines’s book)

Text: https://www.thepsmiths.com/p/review-the-everlasting-empire-by (The P Smiths)
Audio (YouTube read-through): https://youtu.be/AyZSkHmYqnY?si=wgc9mUpJ-YgUxXRS (youtube.com)

Summary (bullet points):

• Core thesis (via Psmith’s review): China’s imperial durability stems from political culture—administrative professionalism, ideological legitimacy (Confucian statecraft), and consensus around order—more than from raw conquest. (The P Smiths)
• Persistence through adaptation: “Empire” often survives as evolving institutions and narratives; decline can look like transformation, not collapse. The review teases out how norms make rule predictable and acceptable. (The P Smiths)
• Modern resonances: The piece invites comparisons to today’s global systems (economic, bureaucratic, technological) that exert imperial-like influence without classic imperial trappings. (The P Smiths)

Three spicy questions:

1. Which matters more for civilizational longevity: competent bureaucracy or compelling ideology—and can one substitute for the other? (The P Smiths)
2. Do multinational tech platforms or trade regimes function as de-facto empires? If so, what breaks their legitimacy—and what replaces it? (The P Smiths)
3. If “collapse” is usually transformation, how should individuals and small communities hedge—preserve knowledge, build parallel institutions, or embed within the dominant ones? (The P Smiths)

Logistics

• Walk & Talk: After we kick off, we usually do an hour-long walk-and-talk. Nearby mini-malls with hot takeout (look for Gelson’s or Pavilions in 92660).
• Share a Surprise: Bring something that recently shifted how you see the world.
• Shaping the Future: Got ideas for formats or themes? Bring ’em!

See you Saturday at 2!