Hawley Decries Transhumanism as Elitists’ Contempt for Common People

Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday took the elitist project of transhumanism—an ideology aimed at moving beyond natural human limits, including mortality—to task over its disdain for the dignity of humankind.

In an address at the National Conservatism Conference in Washington, the Missouri Republican argued that transhumanism was by definition about “overcoming the common and ordinary experiences of humankind, common limits, common weaknesses, common lives, even common laws,” adding, “The goal is to replace the common with something else, which means replacing common people.” 

The former Missouri state attorney general also warned that subscribers to transhumanism would like to establish permanent control over American society.

“The common man’s dignity, please. The transhumanist types have nothing but contempt for the common man, because they want to rule in his place for good, forever,” Hawley said.

The Missouri lawmaker delineated that recent technological advances have removed the common man’s liberty.

“Smartphones that addict our children, social media platforms that monitor and record our every click, every pause, every purchase, every preference, algorithms to turn our attention into a commodity, and a commodity, and sell it over and again. There’s virtually nothing you know about yourself that Big Tech does not also know and profit from, and entirely without your consent,” Hawley said. 

To combat those threats to American liberty, the Missouri Republican outlined several proposals. The first was guaranteeing a vocation to every American and not simply a menial job, like sweeping the floors of a data center.

“It means meaningful work, by which a man can provide for himself and his family. A good job is not an ornament to a life well-lived, it is the heart of it,” Hawley explained.

“Most jobs should be reserved for humans. Only humans ought to drive cars and trucks, for example. Only humans should enter into contracts. Only humans should advise on critical medical treatments or act as legal agents,” the Missouri senator argued.

Hawley also called for a restoration of American property rights.

“I believe Americans should have the ability to defend their human data and their rights to that data against what has amounted to the largest copyright theft in the history of the world,” he said.

To that end, the former Supreme Court law clerk called for changing the law.

“Assign property rights to specific forms of data, create legal liability for the companies who use that data. And finally, let’s fully repeal Section 230. Open the courtroom doors. Allow people to sue who have their rights taken away from them, including suing companies and actors and individuals who use [artificial intelligence]” Hawley contended.

In his concluding remarks, Hawley emphasized that his proposals were consistent with the American tradition of government by the people and for the people.

“We the people-powered flight changed travel forever, but you can’t land a plane on a driveway. Splitting the atom fundamentally changed our view of physics, but nobody expects to run a personal reactor in their basement. The internet completely recast communication and media, but YouTube will still take out your video if you violate somebody’s copyright. By the same token, we should demand that AI empower Americans, not destroy their rights or their jobs or their lives,” Hawley stated.

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