ABSTRACT
Beyond the momentum of the war and the industrial mobilization, the rise of digital managerial and apocalyptic processes is a very long story. In this chapter, the argument is made that, both historically and philosophically, it's an American story. Indeed, the turn of the 40s and 50s and the rise of digital management are just re-expressions of what is called the American event. Indeed, the foundational acts of the United States, the liberal philosophy as expressed and re-expressed with them, have played a central role in our managerial apocalypses and the kind of capitalism we live in today. The travels of Alexis de Tocqueville (1831–1832), Max Weber (1905), and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1941–1943) in the United States are used to uncover the nature and implications of the American event and its becoming.
