It’s been over 3 weeks since we first heard the news that Palantir CEO and Tech billionaire Alex Karp bought land in Härjedalen, Sweden, through his company Caladonia Skog AB. This “piece” of land (37,000 acres) corresponds to approximately the total land area of the Municipality of Malmö. On this land, you find high-mountain terrain, subalpine forest, and properties that include, among other things, the mountain peak Högrensvålen (1000 masl). All of this, sold for a mere 235 million Swedish crowns to the man who said that the central risk to Palantir is “a regressive way of thinking,” and he would “love the idea of getting a drone and having light, fentanyl-laced urine spraying on analysts who’ve tried to screw us.” With “us”, he meant anyone questioning Palantir’s worth and the products they make.
Alex Karp, whose entire career is built on engineering technologies to police, surveil, and kill people, is now owning a large part of Sweden. What is astonishing is that this outsider, who isn’t Swedish and does not live in Sweden, was able to buy land in Sweden of that size. This is not just about an enormous amount of nature commodified away; it is about the commodification of integrity, freedom, and love for a place that has been with us, Swedes, for centuries – it is about the commodification of our home. Natural wealth that has been there for generations of Swedes, resources we have stewarded, are now company access – generating more wealth for Karp and his evil tech tentacles. This is just another display of greed, another step towards a further concentration of billionaire power.
Because being mega rich isn’t enough for these people and never will be. Because if not them, someone else (read: another billionaire) will, right?! It has become a popular trend among the ultra-wealthy to make large land investments. These people feel compelled to add more distance between themselves and those most deprived. With that kind of purchasing power, anything and anyone can be bought, sold, and colonized. We are likely to see more of this horror in the future.
But how have we come to this? How did we sell our freedom and integrity so cheaply? How could we put a price tag on forests, mountains, fresh water, clean air – an ecological system – in the hands of foreign tech bros? What will the consequences of this purchase be, and for whom will the consequences strike the worst? Will we soon have to pay for a subscription to see intact nature, to breathe fresh air and swim in uncontaminated water? The frustration and sadness I feel are nothing short of how it feels when you are heartbroken. Feels like somebody took a part of me away without asking.
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