Yep, it's corporate feudalism really. Really big business usurped national governments in all but the very biggest economies more than a decade ago. Polarizing people right down the middle or as close to the middle as possible is a familiar tactic. There's as much bullshit out there saying that climate change is real as there is saying it's a bunch of bullshit. And honestly, containment zones like Reddit and yes, Voat are somewhat part of the problem as well. It's hard to imagine but the internet was originally billed as a vast melting pot where any and all ideas challenged and a new consensus forged. Instead, we associate withlike minded individuals and create virulent echo chambers. The turning point was the smart phome obviously.
The idea that “in a crucible of free speech the best ideas win” is a forgone conclusion in a world where capital is so fucking powerful that it creates hyperreal versions of reality for human beings using memorized tricks of psychology. This is not the 19th century anymore and the truth is whatever big capital say it is (de facto). Of course absolute truth does exist but it is that much harder to find when the internet becomes more and more controlled by said capital. Where does the teenager go to learn the truth? Wikipedia. What if Wikipedia is compromised? What if the cosmopolitan culture says something is the truth when it isn’t? What if the successful believe in the lie simulacrum larping as a truth? It means the world gets weird. The internet was simpler when there was a barrier for entry like in the early 2000s. It was young White men. We may have been libertarians at that time but we evolved as we say how evil the world could be. The fact that the “right” thinks big capital is something to worship is just absolutely unreal. It is an unfeeling grey goo that will commodify everything in its path including your race and culture. The only defense is a third way forward that puts material wealth below something else.
Of course absolute truth does exist but it is that much harder to find when the internet becomes more and more controlled by said capital.
So few people fail to recognize this critical and obvious truth. Mass media - television, film, radio, print - was able to subjugate, mould and manipulate entire generations virtually without exception. The smart phone is who knows how many times more addictive and intoxicating and therefore incredibly more powerful. It stores every preference and detail it can about you and then uses it all ruthlessly against you.
I literally cannot imagine a force powerful enough to shake society back into sense. It will take incredible violence.
It makes you think people like ellul and ted k might be right huh? The critique of these anarchists is of course that even in their wildest dreams with tech destroyed humans would just create it again. So what do we do? And it’s crazy as you say how people think the internet makes everything more available. For outliers? Yes. You can learn anything. For the average person? Fuck no, they are more controlled than ever before. Apple news pops up on their phone. It’s “official.” The human mind worships authority and “official.” They made this phone they must be powerful and correct. We walk around with tracking devices as a necessity to live. This is literally the technique as described by ellul. Once tech served humanity, now we serve tech. God knows where this will go. Ted had a few hypothesizes and it’s looking like the domesticated human route. God if he exists help us all.
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