An emergent form of political economy, facilitated by information and communication technologies (ICTs), is widely propagated as the apotheosis of unmitigated social, economic, and technological progress. Meanwhile, throughout the world, social degradation and economic inequality are increasing logarithmically. Valued categories of thought are, axiomatically, the basic commodities of the knowledge economy. Language is its means of exchange. This article proposes a sociolinguistic method with which to critically engage the hyperbole of the Information Age. The method is grounded in a systemic social theory that synthesizes aspects of autopoiesis and Marxist political economy. A trade policy statement is analyzed to exemplify the sociolinguistically created aberrations that are today most often construed as social and political determinants.
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