I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment but what can be done to stop our slide towards authoritarianism? The entire system is so deeply rooted in supporting the powers that be I just don't see a way we can overcome them. This is not a democrat or republican issue, they are both supporting the same power structure. What do you suggest we do?
I think it is funny that FB has amassed all this power but essentially refuses to wield it. I quit FB in 2016 because it no longer served a valid purpose in my life. I had 2 choices narrow my friends to create an echo chamber for my beliefs or create an enrage cage where everyone can shout at everyone. Sucked the joy right out of it. If you are on Facebook and complaining about the problem you are part of the problem.
I don’t think the article made it’s case. It started with a narrative, “The US is becoming Turkey” and then cherry-picked its way through news stories to shore up the narrative.
US companies have a long history of cozying up to the current occupant of the White House. They cozied up to Obama. Earlier iterations cozied up to Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan. Eisenhower himself warned against the this problem (the military industrial complex.)
Trump doesn’t have the political skills or work ethic to become a dictator and he no longer has the votes to remain president. This too shall pass.
At that point, those who think Democrats are latent tyrants will complain that Facebook is cozying up to Biden.
I hope you are right and I do agree that many do follow the whatever direction the current political wind is blowing. But the fact remains that Zuckerberg not only allowed but supported the use of his platform to be used as a tool by Russia to inject their will into our elections. That is unprecedented, when you take into account the depth of which facebook reaches into all of our daily lives today, much more than any single news media outlet or other source for that matter.
And if Trump does win and the GOP manages to hold control of the senate this coming November, expect for the rules of the game to be changed even further to favor this current regime.
There is reason for alarm and is a very strong motivation for a Republican like myself to cross the aisle and vote Democrat down the ballot this coming election.
One fact that surprised me is that US residents make up only 10% of Facebook’s community. It makes me wonder if Facebook consciously discounts the effect of its policies on the US vs the world.
What doesn't bode well is that you have things backwards... Zuckerberg has been left with little choice but to side with Trump. He was a Democrat through and through, until they started threatening to dismantle his company... He's a pragmatic person, not an idiot. Incidentally, he was a darling of the Democrats, until he no longer was (read, until they felt he was no longer doing their bidding).
I also come from a different background than most Americans, having lived under a communist regime for the first part of my life, and having traveled and lived abroad extensively. The biggest thing you have donkey backwards is calling Trump a dictator. He's by no means perfect, but he's not the danger. The biggest danger to the US is not Trump, but the fascist, globalist Democrats. Ask any person who has lived under communism who the bigger threat of the two are and I am willing to bet that 95% will say the same thing. From having infiltrated every vital American institution with their leftist groupthink, to having corrupted the free press, to trying to indoctrinate schoolkids from the earliest of ages, to punishing those who don't espouse their fascist views, the Democrats are well on their way to ruining America. You let Erdogan ruin Turkey, and you're now cheer leading for the wrong horse. 0 and 2.
I spent many years of my life living and working in parts of the world under totalitarian type dictators in Asia and South America and strongly disagree with your assertions, which come across as simply partisan and highly biased to the Trump talking points. I am a conservative and lifelong member of the Republican party who recognizes the slide into totalitarianism that has occurred under this president, enabled by members of my own party in Washington. I agree that the Democrats have a lot of problems themselves and I disagree with them on many issues but I will be voting for Joe Biden and blue down the entire ballot this coming November. We have to stop this frontal assault on our democracy and our constitution by Trump and the GOP.
I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment but what can be done to stop our slide towards authoritarianism? The entire system is so deeply rooted in supporting the powers that be I just don't see a way we can overcome them. This is not a democrat or republican issue, they are both supporting the same power structure. What do you suggest we do?
Really enjoyed this. I strongly disagree with many of the points, but respect the way you present the argument. Big fan of the newsletter.
I think it is funny that FB has amassed all this power but essentially refuses to wield it. I quit FB in 2016 because it no longer served a valid purpose in my life. I had 2 choices narrow my friends to create an echo chamber for my beliefs or create an enrage cage where everyone can shout at everyone. Sucked the joy right out of it. If you are on Facebook and complaining about the problem you are part of the problem.
I don’t think the article made it’s case. It started with a narrative, “The US is becoming Turkey” and then cherry-picked its way through news stories to shore up the narrative.
US companies have a long history of cozying up to the current occupant of the White House. They cozied up to Obama. Earlier iterations cozied up to Bush, Clinton, Bush and Reagan. Eisenhower himself warned against the this problem (the military industrial complex.)
Trump doesn’t have the political skills or work ethic to become a dictator and he no longer has the votes to remain president. This too shall pass.
At that point, those who think Democrats are latent tyrants will complain that Facebook is cozying up to Biden.
I hope you are right and I do agree that many do follow the whatever direction the current political wind is blowing. But the fact remains that Zuckerberg not only allowed but supported the use of his platform to be used as a tool by Russia to inject their will into our elections. That is unprecedented, when you take into account the depth of which facebook reaches into all of our daily lives today, much more than any single news media outlet or other source for that matter.
And if Trump does win and the GOP manages to hold control of the senate this coming November, expect for the rules of the game to be changed even further to favor this current regime.
There is reason for alarm and is a very strong motivation for a Republican like myself to cross the aisle and vote Democrat down the ballot this coming election.
One fact that surprised me is that US residents make up only 10% of Facebook’s community. It makes me wonder if Facebook consciously discounts the effect of its policies on the US vs the world.
Could be but I doubt it as most of the top tier, senior management is US based...
Nice Swastika 🤦♂️
Case in point: Amazon refuses to sell police facial recognition software. https://www.axios.com/amazon-facial-recognition-police-e094a3ed-09ef-42fe-aec6-960b7d43bea2.html
What doesn't bode well is that you have things backwards... Zuckerberg has been left with little choice but to side with Trump. He was a Democrat through and through, until they started threatening to dismantle his company... He's a pragmatic person, not an idiot. Incidentally, he was a darling of the Democrats, until he no longer was (read, until they felt he was no longer doing their bidding).
I also come from a different background than most Americans, having lived under a communist regime for the first part of my life, and having traveled and lived abroad extensively. The biggest thing you have donkey backwards is calling Trump a dictator. He's by no means perfect, but he's not the danger. The biggest danger to the US is not Trump, but the fascist, globalist Democrats. Ask any person who has lived under communism who the bigger threat of the two are and I am willing to bet that 95% will say the same thing. From having infiltrated every vital American institution with their leftist groupthink, to having corrupted the free press, to trying to indoctrinate schoolkids from the earliest of ages, to punishing those who don't espouse their fascist views, the Democrats are well on their way to ruining America. You let Erdogan ruin Turkey, and you're now cheer leading for the wrong horse. 0 and 2.
I spent many years of my life living and working in parts of the world under totalitarian type dictators in Asia and South America and strongly disagree with your assertions, which come across as simply partisan and highly biased to the Trump talking points. I am a conservative and lifelong member of the Republican party who recognizes the slide into totalitarianism that has occurred under this president, enabled by members of my own party in Washington. I agree that the Democrats have a lot of problems themselves and I disagree with them on many issues but I will be voting for Joe Biden and blue down the entire ballot this coming November. We have to stop this frontal assault on our democracy and our constitution by Trump and the GOP.
https://trumpvirus.org/american-carnage-at-lafayette-square/