We're already living in the Cyberpunk era

We’re already living in the Cyberpunk era. It just doesn’t look the way we expected.

I’m afraid there’s no neon rain, no flying cars, and no cybernetic rebels fighting the system in this edition.

But the system? It’s already here.

• Corporate oligopolies controlling everything from your career to your visa
• Jobs functioning as de facto passports - your identity and mobility tethered to a brand, especially if you come from a “developing country”
• Workers burning themselves out for prestige, just to be replaced by code or automation
• Entire underclasses excluded, not because they lack skill, but because they lack affiliation

We used to fear AI would take our jobs, but I believe what’s quietly happening is more insidious:

Your worth is now determined by whether a machine, or a hiring system, recognizes you as useful.

And your freedom? It often depends on the logo stamped on your email signature.

In places like Lebanon, I’ve seen this up close:
People don’t travel because of national passports.
They travel because their employer is recognized.
You don’t just work for a company, you belong to it.

If you come from the “global south” - though I prefer to say “majority of the world” - this most likely rings very true.

So no, this isn’t science fiction. It’s just a quieter dystopia, wrapped in productivity dashboards and corporate perks.

And unless we start talking about it now, we’ll sleepwalk even deeper into it.

(I promise this series isn’t all doom and gloom)