DYNAMIC TECHNO-FEUDAL EXTRACTION MODEL (MDET)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66104/6y8kkx81Keywords:
Platform Capitalism; Economic Inequality; Exploratory Mathematical Modeling; Automation; Dynamical Systems; Techno-Feudalism.Abstract
This study proposes the Dynamic Techno-Feudal Extraction Model (MDET), an exploratory and heuristic formalization that simulates dynamics of wealth concentration, structural unemployment, and degradation of social well-being under platform capitalism. Using a system of three coupled ordinary differential equations — accumulated capital of techno-financial elites (W), measured structural unemployment rate (U), and Social Suffering Index (S) —, the model investigates stability and divergence conditions in three hypothetical scenarios: regulated capitalism (baseline), pure techno-feudalism (inertial), and redistributive intervention (Digital Robin Hood). Under the model's assumptions, the inertial scenario diverges explosively, with capital W growing without bound and the Social Suffering Index S reaching total collapse in approximately 15 cycles. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the unemployment capture elasticity (β) and capital externalities (μ) are the most critical parameters for rupture dynamics. In the intervention scenario, a drainage of only 0.08% of capital per cycle was sufficient to stabilize the system. We conclude that, in the explored parametric space, the trajectory of platform capitalism without redistributive mechanisms is mathematically unstable, although technically viable interventions exist. The model is presented as a theoretical-exploratory exercise, without predictive claims regarding specific dates of civilizational collapse.
Downloads
References
BRYNJOLFSSON, E.; MCAFEE, A. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014.
CASE, A.; DEATON, A. Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691217062
GOODWIN, R. M. A growth cycle. In: FEINSTEIN, C. H. (Ed.). Socialism, Capitalism and Economic Growth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967. p. 54–58.
HARARI, Y. N. 21 Lições para o Século XXI. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2018.
IHME. Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2024. Disponível em: https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-results/. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.
LOTKA, A. J. Elements of Physical Biology. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1925.
NUSSBAUM, M. C. Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061200
OXFAM. Inequality, Inc.: How Corporate Power Fuels Inequality and Why We Need a New Era of Accountability. Oxfam Briefing Paper, 2026. Disponível em: https://www.oxfam.org/en/research/inequality-inc. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.
PIKETTY, T. Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2014. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674369542
SAEZ, E.; ZUCMAN, G. The Triumph of Injustice: How the Rich Dodge Taxes and How to Make Them Pay. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019.
SARGENT, T. J. Beyond the Demand Schedule: Keynes's Tool for Revising Expectations. 1982. (Manuscrito não publicado, citado em Sterman, 2000).
SCHEFFER, M. et al. Early-warning signals for critical transitions. Nature, v. 461, n. 7260, p. 53–59, 2009. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08227
SEN, A. Development as Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
STIGLITZ, J. E. The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.
STERMAN, J. D. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Boston: Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000.
UN DESA. World Population Prospects 2024. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2024. Disponível em: https://population.un.org/wpp/. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.
UNICEF. Levels and Trends in Child Malnutrition. UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates, 2024. Disponível em: https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.
VAROUFAKIS, Y. Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism. London: Penguin Books, 2024.
VIRTANEN, P. et al. SciPy 1.0: Fundamental Algorithms for Scientific Computing in Python. Nature Methods, v. 17, p. 261–272, 2020.
WORLD INEQUALITY LAB. World Inequality Report 2026. Paris, 2026. Disponível em: https://wir2026.wid.world/. Acesso em: 15 jun. 2026.
ZUBOFF, S. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2021.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Paulo Salgado Zenha Carneiro, Sergio Roberto Pinto, Mauro Santos

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits the sharing of the work with proper acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal;
Authors are authorized to enter into separate, additional agreements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., posting in an institutional repository or publishing it as a book chapter), provided that authorship and initial publication in this journal are properly acknowledged, and that the work is adapted to the template of the respective repository;
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post and distribute their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal websites) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this may lead to productive exchanges and increase the impact and citation of the published work (see The Effect of Open Access);
Authors are responsible for correctly providing their personal information, including name, keywords, abstracts, and other relevant data, thereby defining how they wish to be cited. The journal’s editorial board is not responsible for any errors or inconsistencies in these records.
PRIVACY POLICY
The names and email addresses provided to this journal will be used exclusively for the purposes of this publication and will not be made available for any other purpose or to third parties.
Note: All content of the work is the sole responsibility of the author and the advisor.
