Sleepwalking into the Abyss: Dave Eggers’ ‘The Every’

A new year! A chance to right the wrongs of the past 12 months. A fresh optimism inspired by a swathe of narcissistic ‘Goodbye 2023’ missives on Instagram. What a time to live, right?

Wrong.

Spending the festive period with Dave Eggers’ 2021 novel, The Every, probably wasn’t the best choice to end a year. Or maybe it was? After all, illuminating a certain reality dwarfs social media’s synthetic version of it.

Following his acclaimed 2013 novel, The Circle, The Every continues the dystopic journey on the back of technology’s rise and how it shapes mass culture’s everyday existence. While The Circle perhaps garnered more acclaim (including the 2017 film adaption starring Emma Watson), during The Every, what Eggers produces here cuts through with a blade as sharp as the one George Orwell used with 1984.

While some of the ideas Eggers exposes through an array of characters may be deemed by some as far-fetched, with the rising tide of Artificial Intelligence, Eggers’ assessment seems far closer to fact than fiction with each passing day.

The sheer extremities that go with the modern age remain pertinent two years after The Every’s publication, however, it’s worth pointing out that – from average person’s perspective – the scourge of AI wasn’t as clear then as it is now.

While some have may referenced it in the past (perhaps none better than the X Files season one episode, Ghost in the Computer), what Eggers unveils during this frightening tale is tech’s aim to showcase their omniscience not just by blurring the lines of privacy but obliterating it altogether. A transparency that stands on the shoulders of the giant that is big brother himself. An all-knowing one-stop shop in a bid to right the wrongs of history, accelerated by the ideas of hypersensitivity where room for nuance or human error is non-existent.

The Don of Destruction: James Ellroy’s ‘Widespread Panic’

Environmental issues play a big part throughout The Every, and as tech pulls people into line with a plethora of new world behavioural patterns, the Every behemoth reduces carbon omissions by over 20 percent.

In the realms of politics and all that unravels inside the most powerful institutions throughout the world, while trying to take a measured approach here, it’s fair to say that our esteemed leaders have been spectacularly ineffective in mapping out a clear vision to stop the world from burning.

And with politics continuing to swing from one side to the other in extreme ways (the Netherlands and Argentina being the latest), I can’t see this changing any time soon, which begs an uncomfortable and almost unfathomable question: is tech better equipped and a more viable option to combat climate change?

Since the turn of the century, perhaps more than anywhere in the world has Silicon Valley cross-pollinated capitalism and liberalism. Eggers’ also spoke about this during an interview with The Guardian in 2021. “The most innovation wrapped in the cloak of liberalism and progressivism, diversity, equity and inclusion: they know how to sell an innovation that to them is profitable, gives them more power and control,” he said.

Untethered from the corridors of academia and the high-rises of big business (these days, ironically, the two aren’t as far apart as some may think), it’s an idea that Eggers explores rather provocatively. Of course, it’s all tangled in the web of hypocrisy, but in the year 2024, what isn’t?  

Eggers’ summation is interesting, and due to the uncomfortable nature of it, perhaps one that people aren’t exploring enough. Hardly surprising considering many climate change advocates vociferously oppose the capitalist ideology and the very same one that got us into this mess in the first place. That itself underlines an even more frightening question: how can something be both the problem and the solution?

However, as Eggers suggested during the aforementioned interview and highlights throughout The Every via a mélange of liberal-minded characters, many cogs in the tech bros. machine harboured the same liberal idealism once upon a time (in their own bubble, they probably still do).

Haruki Murakami: a buyer’s guide into the Japanese author’s alternative universe

In a bid to remain on the ‘right side’ of just about any divisive subject to avoid a social media blitzkrieg, it could be argued that big business and multi-national companies have toed the line more than ever. And while the liberal minds of Silicon Valley may have played a role in this, it matters little considering corporate tax avoidance is as aggressive as it’s ever been, which makes the whole ‘falling into line with the status quote’ behaviour nothing but a facade.

And speaking of, what about tech’s role in being the knight in shining armour to combat climate change. As the beast of Silicon Valley continues to grow and roam as freely as it ever has, is it a façade or a frightening notion that something so outlandish and unthinkable is edging closer to a morbid reality?

In this new world of extremes, while the idea of capitalism and liberalism cross-pollinating for the greater good is a thought too much to bear for many, playing devil’s advocate for a second, and perhaps there comes a point where the left and right need to find some common ground, because, well… isn’t that the point of democracy? A freedom to choose, debate, and respect those with different views? As a society we’ve lost all ability to debate; a facet suffocated from the incessant pile-ons carried out every day across ‘all platforms’.

This feeds into the idea of freedom and tech’s ability to dismantle it, which is at the core of Eggers’ thought process during The Every. Here, he asks the most pertinent question of all. Do people actually want freedom? Or are they more content on being told what to do? Is it getting to a stage where the ‘trogs’ are backed into a corner and castigated as conspiracy theorists in their bid not to comply with the status quo in this digital age?

Just like Brexit. Just like Trump and the increasing likelihood of that lightning bolt striking in the same place twice. With tech and AI, once again, are we sleeping walking into the abyss? With The Every, Eggers paints a bleak picture.

Perhaps Alexa will too if you ask her.