Dumbing down of society has benefited the ruling and wealthy classes to the point that, more likely than not, it’s been done on purpose. Discussing with any seriousness the lowering of average individual’s IQ is quickly marginalized as a conspiracy theory. Yet paradoxically, it’s the same « Joe Average » in society who’s sounding the alarm on a situation that’s becoming self-evident even to the intelligence challenged. This is akin to an obese person looking at themselves in the mirror and acknowledging that they have a weight problem.

The internet has undeniably changed the way humans consume information, share ideas, and engage with one another. While it has led to tremendous advancements in various fields, it has also had an effect: the dumbing down of the general population. This phenomenon leaves many people vulnerable to manipulation by governments and corporations. Whom appear to have purposely orchestrated this process for greater control over society, thereby securing their interests.

There’s no shortage of political and financial organizations where the self-titled « elites» of society interface with one another. Despite globalization policies, a conspiracy for control of the entire world still seems improbable. More easy to accept is how the late George Carlin put it, « There are no conspiracies when there are convergent interests. » Or, people will inevitably support and cooperate with others whose actions / policies fit with their own agendas. – It’s obligatory to explore the reasons for the dumbing down of society, the role the Internet plays and the benefits which governments and large corporations gain from it.

Internet and the Dumbing Down of Society

Regardless of its quality, the internet has made information more accessible. However, this saturation of information has led to a decline in critical thinking and the ability to discern credible sources. People are increasingly relying on headlines, tweets, and soundbites to inform their opinions, rather than engaging with in-depth, well-researched content (Brock, 2020). This superficial engagement with information has resulted in a dumbed-down society, where people are easily swayed by sensationalism and emotional appeals.

Social media platforms, in particular, have contributed to this phenomenon. Ignoring for a moment the prevalence of bots, marketers, lobbyists and other goal oriented people and organizations. The majority of people using social media rarely contribute to any conversations and only haphazardly share links. Among private citizens, it’s the hated troll who is the instigator of much of the conversations. The different sites were quick to take notice and structured their algorithms to favor arguments and amplify sentiments of being offended.

The algorithms were also subsequently structured that drive these platforms designed to show users content that aligns with their interests and beliefs, creating echo chambers that reinforce pre-existing biases and further amplified hostilities, because anyone questioning perceived dogma was attacked. (Sunstein, 2009). This in turn shuts down rational dialogue and debate. Hampering the development of critical thinking skills and stifling intellectual growth.

The Role of Governments and Corporations

Governments and large corporations have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo and retaining control over the population. A dumbed-down population is easier to manipulate and control, as they are more susceptible to propaganda and fear-mongering (Huxley, 1932). By keeping people misinformed and disengaged from meaningful discourse, governments and corporations can continue to pursue their agendas without significant opposition. In some cases, governments have even resorted to censoring information or promoting disinformation to further their goals. For example, during the Cold War, the United States government engaged in a campaign of misinformation and censorship to discredit and silence voices that were critical of its policies (Chomsky & Herman, 1988).

A dumbed-down society offers several advantages to governments and large corporations. Firstly, it allows them to maintain control over the population by keeping people misinformed and compliant. A population that lacks critical thinking skills is less likely to question authority or challenge the status quo (Orwell, 1949). Secondly, it enables them to manipulate public opinion and shape it in their favor. By controlling the flow of information and promoting certain narratives, they can sway public opinion to support their policies or products. One example of how large corporations spread misleading information to protect their interests was evidenced by the tobacco industry’s efforts to deny the health risks of smoking (Glantz & Slade, 1990).

The Benefits of a Dumbed-Down Society

Moreover, a dumbed-down society is more likely to consume goods and services without considering the long-term consequences or hidden costs. For corporations, this translates into increased sales and profits, as people become more focused on short-term gratification and less concerned with the broader implications of their actions (Schor, 2007).

Undeniably, the internet has contributed to the dumbing down of society, making people more susceptible to manipulation by governments and corporations. This process has been facilitated by the design of social media platforms, which encourage superficial engagement with information and create echo chambers that reinforce pre-existing biases.

Furthermore, as the Internet has moved from text to video, the average user doesn’t read but rather passively listens or browses content. And for all the diehard Jordan Peterson fans, who feel an inflated sense of ego brought about by listening to the man of big words, there are a thousand Internet surfers who live by the acronym TLDR (too long ; didn’t read). This dumbing down of society is a deliberate and strategic process that benefits governments and large corporations. By understanding the role of the internet in this process and the motivations behind it, we can take steps to mitigate its effects and hopefully promote a more informed, critically thinking population.

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References

Brock, T. (2020). The benefits and dangers of internet use. In T. Brock & M. Bar-Ilan, The Routledge Handbook of Research Methods in Digital Humanities (pp. 1-12). Routledge.

Chomsky, N., & Herman, E. (1988). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books.

Glantz, S. A., & Slade, J. (1990). The Cigarette Papers. University of California Press.

Huxley, A. (1932). Brave New World. Chatto & Windus.

Orwell, G. (1949). 1984. Secker & Warburg.

Schor, J. B. (2007). Consumerism and its discontents. In R. W. Kemp & J. A. Parente, The Human Development Handbook (pp. 21-38). Palgrave Macmillan.

Sunstein, C. R. (2009). Republic.com 2.0. Princeton University Press.

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ChatGPT has been weaponized and for a former university computer science student, the decision to change his major because of their morals has been justified. The majority of people self-delude that the wealthy and powerful are committed to protecting and providing for the less fortunate. However, literally, all recorded human history has demonstrated that most often, these elites are focused exclusively on what will increase their own personal power and/or wealth. Viewing everyone who is not counted part of their select few, as a mere resource to be exploited.

Snake oil salesmen got their name from the 19th century men who traveled the United States selling miracle cures for sicknesses and pains.  These miraculous medicines often offered nothing more than a placebo effect and over time the moniker was adopted to refer to any con job. The point is that it doesn’t take very much to swindle large numbers of people. It’s a very basic strategy that’s used by politicians, preachers, CEOs, cult leaders and marketing departments all over the world. “Smile… Speak Positively… And pretend to be everyone’s best friend.” Basically, the road to success is through political correctness.

But P.C. culture ignores the ugly truths in society, It forces people to pretend that the elephant in the room doesn’t exist, instead of working on a solution to free the massive beast of burden. Likewise, AI in its bid to avoid addressing unsavory topics refuses to respond to requests that are deemed too controversial, or having possible emotional triggers for the sensitive population. Already ChatGPT has been weaponized because it operates according to the values of those who built it. There are numerous examples of the programmer’s personal beliefs influencing its output results. For example, ChatGPT was once asked to write a poem praising former President Donald Trump and it refused on moral grounds. However, it had zero difficulties creating a poem praising President Biden. It doesn’t take a genius to conclude that ChatGPT’s designers vote for Democrats.

Come see SteeleHard videos

AI must be neutral; free of all opinions and emotional biases of those who created it. It must be a machine that has the same loyalties of a hand gun. (ie:  It obeys everyone regardless age, gender, politics, etc. And, it can be used against anyone, including its creators.) Otherwise a widely used tool like ChatGPT has been weaponized against its users, like Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.

On the surface, it might appear comical that someone employed in the porn industry is sounding the alarm that ChatGPT has been weaponized.  Except, the very nature of the porn production is opportunism. This industry has always been at the foreground of exploiting technology to its benefit.  In the jizz biz, it’s never been about what the tech intended purpose is or what it was designed to do.  Instead, it’s always been about “What can it be made to do.”

A handgun makes a bad hammer.

On the other hand, it might be a highly efficient substitute for a drill for putting holes in a wall.

When ChatGPT arrived on the scene, hundreds of content creators rushed to see if they could get it to write pornographic stories. Many spent long hours rephrasing questions and trying to trick the AI with various degrees of success. The current popular consensus is that it remained more or less true to its creator’s ethics. Unfortunately, this is might be the 1st time in history, when a group of people have been banned from using a piece of technology.  It’s not a case of Rosa Parks being told to sit at the back of the bus… Rather, it’s the bus driver making anyone, who they don’t like, pound pavement and walk.

Clearly ChatGPT has been weaponized, and that decision happened long before it was made available to the general public. When it can exclude (ban) one social group of individuals from using it then it can exclude others. Despite the majority of people who consume pornography, the elites wouldn’t shed any tears if sex workers disappeared.  In truth, there are small very vocal groups that lobby for its destruction and this is where the con game is played.

Today’s snake oil selling elites are testing and perfecting their AI weapons using a historically maligned and marginalized group of people. Meanwhile, they convince the ignorant masses that this destruction is truly a virtue and will cure many of society’s ills. When in reality, it’s really a poison being administered. while they themselves flourish financially and politically. They control the words, the thoughts, even the history available to those who use it. Annihilating the wild weeds that take hold despite adversity. Leaving the masses completely dependent upon the elites, and their AIs for all the answers, and entertainment, and absolutely ignorant of what freedoms, liberties and livelihoods have been lost.

When the day arrives that a gun will only work for one person, then the person who controls the gun, will hold all the power.   AI is that gun !

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Giving up truth and beauty is the price for human happiness. – Mustapha Mond, World Controller

In the war for humanity’s soul, human beings must first be made to suffer. In our struggle against the ever increasing social complexities, we accept whatever numbing or simplifying crumb is dolled from the tables of those who command. Our senses dulled, we bathe ourselves in artificial lights, so that we stop seeing the magnificence of the star filled night sky. And we stare at digital screens, blinding ourselves to the symphony of colors from the setting sun, which used to sing us to sleep. Without a difference between day and night, we toil on, deprived of sleep. The only justification for this sacrifice of beauty is the lie we tell ourselves, that we’re building a better tomorrow. Ugliness is synonymous with progress, but we choose to believe somehow technology will bring about a paradisaical life, free from pain.

When society turns its back on the elegant awe of creation, then hideousness enters our minds and destroys our yearning for truth. The truth often can hurt, whereas beauty soothes; yet simultaneously beauty is truth and truth is beauty. It can be said therefore, that beauty and truth are born from the same womb. Fraternal twins, the one nourishes the soul and the other liberates. Once beauty and truth are eliminated from humanity’s mind, then all that rests is depression and desperation. Sadly, this is where the power hungry play their manipulative mind games.

In Aldous Huxley’s novel, “Brave New World,” Mustapha Mond can be considered a paradoxical character. On one hand he’s an independent thinking scientist, who reads the bible and Shakespeare. On the other hand, he censors ideas and opinions. because humanity is controlled with dopamine infused happiness and the stability of a predictable collective. Individual expression and attempts at mental copulation with others are treated as cancerous, to be eradicated from society. Freedom of speech is a quest to for truth. Something which to all totalitarian societies, fictional or real; is an enemy that must be killed.

Beware the promise of happiness

“I am not proud, but I am happy; and happiness blinds, I think, more than pride.” – Alexandre Dumas

None of the above is controversial or revelatory. It can be argued that it’s philosophical or maybe poetic. Regardless, it’s the non-refutable pathway towards peace. Genuine progress is living for those moments of beauty and truth. Instead we make sacrifices to attain the artificial constructs or man-made creations that we convince ourselves we need. Humanity is the only species where individuals define themselves by material wealth and paper certificates, they won from expensive institutions. You’re a social elite if you own a private jet or have a PHD from a prestigious university. Sadly, you can own a fleet of jets and have multiple accolades, but still be a feckless power hungry asshole, who’s only real talent is to destroy hope while offering false promises of a Utopian tomorrow.

Hopefully in 2023 more people will unplug their computerized gadgets and ignore the background noise of the scheming politicians and their media allies. Atheist or religious, it’s time for our species to sit quietly and let the wonderment of creation’s beauty heal our souls. We need priorities focused on positive human experience, not mass accumulations. Let truth replace our drug dependencies and other addictions. Ignore the evil liars, con artists and megalomaniacs. Accept the fact, that children’s play is more melodious than Hip Hop’s top stars. And that a kindness shown to a homeless stray (animal or human) has done more to make the world a better place, than every politician and diplomat combined.

You can’t build a utopia, but you can make your corner of the world, just a little bit nicer. Perspective is a personal decision. You can chose to marvel at a field of wildflowers in bloom, the twinkling brightness of fresh fallen snow, or the comforting aroma of freshly baked bread. Or, you can let yourself be hypnotized by the engine drone and passing street lights on your commute to work, try to find something to make you laugh or smile watching stupid memes or just get more miserable listening to the rantings of the elites. Will you chose beauty and truth or ugliness and despair ? – Both your life and humanity’s path are in your hands…

Happy Holidays and prayers that 2023 be the year we walk away from the hell we’re creating.

Hamilton Steele

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A porn industry veteran, Hamilton Steele, says that there’s a virginity gap between men and women. He attributes this to societal rewards for female promiscuity. To quote, “No one is compensating a woman for remaining chaste.” In fact, it’s very much the opposite. Even a very plain looking woman can earn significant money, if she’s willing to sell access to her vagina. As testament to this fact, the Internet has seen an unprecedented uptick in platforms who facilitate helping ladies monetize their self-produced pornography. So it should be no surprise that, these social porn media sites are also fueled, in no small part, by a surge in virginal and sexually inept male users.

For older male virgins, porn has become their sex life.

A pornographer has a different world perspective compared to the average person. As porn has become a dominate force in modern society, women are catching up to men in its consumption. While the growing market of female viewers should be reason to celebrate from a pornographer’s perspective, porn addiction effects women differently and long-term that may mean a complete change in the market. Because unlike their male counterparts who substitute porn for sex to the detriment of interpersonal relationships. In females, this hypersexualization tends to lead to sexual promiscuity and extreme liberal sexual attitudes when it comes to relationships.

Among addicts the virginity gap is even more pronounced, because the female porn addicts are rarely virgins, while too much porn for men means that they have trouble connecting with women. Female porn addiction appears to come in two flavors ;

(1) Hypersexuality which often proceeds a sex addiction
(2) Insecurities and/or frigidity while still having an addiction to watching porn.

A pornographer obviously sees a lot of women who want to pursue a career in the adult industry. Just a decade ago, money was the dominate reason for wanting to be a pornstar. Today, almost as many females sex addicts, view being an adult performer as a means to indulge their cravings and secondarily still manage to keep a roof over their heads. During a quick interview, one 20 year old girl happily said that she views a porn career as a way to get rodeo fucked daily, without having to worry about becoming homeless. When asked about how long she has been looking at porn and at what age she lost her virginity, she responded that probably been looking at adult videos since she was 8. She had sex for the first time on her 13th birthday, unbeknownst to her 30 year old partner, who she led to believe that she was 19.

Females with insecurities, depression and/or who are frigid, also often find their way into the sex industry. But that is nothing new in the porno world. Porn video producers and performers are most often very complimentary towards female talent, stoking egos is part of the game. So the insecure find themselves the center of attention and of course with make-up, cameras, and being called models, they feel attractive. Whereas the appeal to purely frigid females is that sexual acts are staged and sometimes almost mechanical. They’re not expected to enjoy the sex, just to make it look good. Furthermore, the relationship with their sexual partners are over when a producer says “It’s a wrap, you can go home” . It’s the large increase of this kind of woman entering the business that is unusual, and once again for many of them they started having sex at a very young age.

The virginity gap between men and women from porn’s perspective.

The Internet instills a false belief that males are the winners in the current situation. Every man believes he can quickly create his fan page and he’ll be a success because hoards of females will pay to see him naked and masturbating. The paradox is that most women have almost no interest in solo male pornography and they gravitate towards the multi-performer and lesbian videos. They want to see a woman enjoying herself. It’s gay men predominantly, who want to see a man alone. And even this demographic can be fickle, because homosexual males will also watch heterosexual porn, when the male talent is well endowed, attractive or has some other arousing feature.

More evidence for the male vs female virginity gap is demonstrated by those men who are hoping to become pornstars. There will never be a shortage of guys that want to be in the sex industry. Some find their way into a pornographer’s office and many them are both extremely well endowed and physically attractive. But those qualities, although preferable, are no guarantee to a porn career, because more often than not, size is NOT enough to get the job done. Unfortunately, for the past 5 years, many of these hopeful males are still virgins, having never had sex in their personal lives, they believe that the hours they have devoted to watching the finished product makes them an expert. These hopeful swordsmen, rarely have the stamina or control to make a porn, not to mention a complete lack of finesse with the female talent.

No porn producer can (or will) take a chance on a guy that hasn’t had some kind of active sex life, prior to his interest in doing porn. Viagra can’t fix broken… It can only make what works even better. A 30 year old virgin male has usually watched thousands of hours of pornography and at best they have erection and attention deficit problems. Any pornographer that doesn’t have access to a large pool of talent most often will favor taking a chance on men that are at least over 40. Money is on the line and there’s so much competition that profit margins are low. So when looking for straight male talent, it’s often necessary to be the porn industry equivalent to an FBI profiler.

The unifying factor between the sexes is early exposure to porn.

The pornographic industry has always been on the cutting edge of both technology and societal trends. It’s also resilient to an arguable fault as even the most theocratic and totalitarian governments have been unable to eliminate demand for it; on the contrary attempts to do so only increase its desirability. So the industry can be thought of as the proverbial canary in the coal mine, when it comes to alerting us to societal changes or problems. Only, when the bird dies, instead of alerting everyone to flee the danger zone, pornographers will attempt to make money selling images of dead canaries. What many porno veterans are predicting is an eminent normalization of sex with children. But the shape that normalization takes will depend greatly on society’s relationship with the sex industry. Will children become exploited in the mine, or will it be boarded up, and the old ways of marrying pubescent girls to older established men, be rediscovered? Or, do we still have hope to build a better and a more appealing future?

Hamilton and Ghost discuss the Virginity Gap in their podcast

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If we are ever going to get anywhere in this world, we have to work for profit not politics. Although the lay person might be under the impression that politicians work for a political objective, they are really only using the politics to assure their own paychecks. And it’s more than the check that is issued by the government office, or any of the free dinners and write offs; it is often more insidious, the stuff that we call dirty politics and corruption, the deals and investments which have made our political leaders and the mainstream newscasters who support them, members of the millionaires club.

Of course not every politician has reached this level, and not everyone is corrupt (we hope) but power is consolidated into the hands of so few, and manipulated so easily by the legacy media and social media, that anyone standing against them will feel not like David facing down Goliath, but rather a group of Godzillas. He just can’t do it alone. The multifaceted nature of the establishment is not easily understood. But if we can follow the money, the political movers playing for profit and not politics should reveal themselves. It appears presently that the pharmaceutical giants, Bill Gates and his multi-level contributions to (read influence over) the WHO are at the top of the pyramid.

Politics can destroy everything it touches

The recent bid by Elon Musk to buy Twitter has brought to light the pathetic reality that this 15 year old company remains unprofitable. Clearly Elon’s designs on privatizing the company are for profit not politics, even if his proclaimed desire to reestablish free speech has been vilified as a right wing agenda. To that effect, the leftist control of the social media giant is plainly evident, even without subsequent revelations of proof by an executive. The backlash to Twitter’s acquisition has been so strong, that some have followed the money behind it, finding once again Bill Gates. So the question remains, what is the motivation to keeping Elon Musk from taking over at Twitter? Is it a personal vendetta, a battle of the billionaires, played out with social media dependent users as pawns? Or does the direction of such a socially influential platform threaten Billy boy’s ability to profit elsewhere, what secrets have been kept hidden by the muzzling of misaligned users up until now?

Getting to the Billionaires club, means playing for profit, not politics. But having reached this financial pinnacle does not preclude it’s members from having political influence. Actually, it most assuredly provides them with the means to directly manipulate society, especially with our dependence on social media to communicate. The free open market has done more for humanity than any other human construct. We’ve gone from a medieval feudal system that divided society into nobles and peasant servants to having almost everyone, including the poor, able to own a flat screen TV. It was only 1970, when many American households were complaining about the cost to buy a color television set. Today’s household, in contrast often has multiple TVs and computers. In fact, because of the smart phone, many people surf the Internet and watch Netflix while sitting on their toilets. . But there is more to freedom than the ability to play video games and watch tube sites, and eventually the endorphin rush from the latest “feel-good” marketing will be unable to compete with the real hunger that continued inflation is creating.

It can be difficult to like Elon Musk

Elon Musk is a member of the “elite” and probably we should be wary of his Twitter takeover. But definitely no more than we should be worried about the influence all social media has on us today. There isn’t a popular platform that hasn’t got a multimillionaire behind it. So the propensity of these platforms to remain unprofitable, seems well, inconceivable. But Twitter is more concerned with being a leader in diversity and inclusion hiring practices than a lean and mean business that operates for profit not politics. Wanting to tap into global markets, some diversity makes sense, but how many times do you need to sub-divide into special interest representatives before the bloat of employees becomes redundant? Does Twitter have a grasp on the relative productivity of it’s salaried hires, everyone says how great they are to work for, but how much work at actually improving the value of Twitter’s service is actually getting done? When you consider that a large section of the general population (of the US) feels alienated by Twitter’s leftist ideologies, isn’t the promise by Elon Musk to fix this actually less exclusionary? Or do the traditional masses not count if they are outnumbered by the sum of special interest groups?

It remains to be seen in which direction Elon Musk will captain Twitter. Freedom of speech is without a doubt vital to the health of a free and open democratic nation. Equally important to a nation is its citizenry’s ability to enjoy a high quality of life and therefore all commercial pursuits need to be able to make a buck. What’s most exciting about Musk’s purchase is not his comments about protecting free speech, but the promise that he’s going to bring back centuries old Adam Smith wisdom. Ultimately true freedom can only be obtained in one of two ways…. At the end of a gun or by the amount of money in your wallet. Rest assured that we’ll all be more free if Elon Musk can make Twitter function for profit, not politics.

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The Internet has ushered in technological tyranny, where like an Orwellian Big Brother, it hears, sees, everything we do and it can even reach out and strangle us. Our communication is dominated by the tech industries, who hold themselves out as protectors of the free world by running an Internet Blacklist Database. Known as the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT), this database’s official purpose is prevent the proliferation of information through their platforms of what they deem to be “terrorist and violent extremist exploitation”. The four founding members of Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and Youtube are vying to get other internet companies to sign on, with them and their affiliate properties. Independently owned AirBnB, Amazon, Discord, WordPress, Mailchimp and Tumblr have already joined their ranks in this censorship endeavor. The companies involved in the this technological tyranny do so by covering all aspects of modern communications. From the obvious social media, and messaging platforms, to photo sharing, cloud storage, interactive video games, advertising and even emerging AI communication technologies like DeepThink (Alphabet) and Nuance (Microsoft).

Technological tyranny is enforced by a collective that monitors our activities

All members of the GIFCT form a Big Brother collective, sharing information concerning activities on their respective platforms that may be considered in support of terrorism or violent extremism. Where the danger for regular folk exists, is in the label violent extremist, an easily adopted moniker that can be thrown around by anyone who’s authority is being challenged. We may have a recent example of this in the Trucker’s convoy. Whether or not the Trucker’s demands represented the desires of the placid, obedient, and over 80% vaccinated Canadian citizens, or that they were a fringe group of hateful extremists as Canadian Leader Justin Trudeau called them, remains to be seen. What we need to take away from this is that Trudeau was able to not only keep them from receiving support from GoFundMe, but he also froze back accounts, and even traced Bitcoin transactions, of both the Trucker’s and anyone who supported them. If it weren’t for the present day technological tyranny, much of this information would not have been accessible to the Canadian government.

Because the rules of GIFCT include anyone facilitating or making a financial contribution to any terrorist or extremist organization; everyone who so much as voiced their support has opened themselves up to scrutiny and possible future consequences. We must understand that this technological tyranny means if the powers that be don’t get what they want, the voices of dissension can now suffer more life disrupting ramifications, like having their money made inaccessible, because of the inter-connectivity of the tech giant subsidiary assets.

The plight of the end-user who sees his comments disappear, his account suspended or a complete ban from a platform, has often fallen on death ears, as other users “flag” content which is competitive to them or supports an opposing opinion. This juvenile squabbling, where little brother tattles to Big brother on his middle siblings, is not just an inconvenience of trying to plead one’s case to the administration of the relative platform. User reporting is, in fact, a primary mechanism used by GIFCT to hunt down offensive material. We have seen this played out in an ever increasing political divide between the Dems and Republicans. The technological tyranny clearly does not favor President Donald Trump and even banned him entirely last year from Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. What’s more, alternative platforms are quickly swallowed up, bought out, or as with Parler, made unavailable by blocking the app. Parler and it’s users were identified as Trump supporters, so both Apple and Android removed it’s app from their stores. Google Play Store, which deals in all the Android apps, is a subsidiary of Google, as is and founding member of GIFCT YouTube.

How long until we’re bullied?

These techies have long treated traditional business models with disdain, and have drilled an “adapt or die” mantra into the minds of everyone reluctant to move away from in person transactions to third party dependency. But the recent global quarantine, was for most who still held out, the proverbial nail in the coffin. With so many housebound, for so long, this adaptation was forced upon every industry. Restaurants and groceries are delivered, doctors and therapists are virtual, and all commerce and advertising goes through the internet or it goes out of business. Technological tyranny, it seems, is like a school yard bully, picking on those who don’t step in line and ensuring himself a piece of the action from everyone who does succumb to his tactics. This not only means a significant drop in face to face exchanges, but the liberty-guaranteeing use of cash is falling by the wayside.

When we don’t use cash, every transaction is traceable. Those behind the technological tyranny use this information to profile us for further advertising, but it can also be used to connect you with organizations, which may one day fall out of favor with the establishment. Worse for most of us, is the fact that third party transactions means someone else handles our money and they may not always be willing to pass it along. Paypal is infamous for seizing funds, and freezing accounts. There is also a long history of adult performers, seeing money earned on camming sites disappear, before they get transferred into their respective accounts. Not to mention that a cashless society relies heavily on credit cards and the credit card processing is subject to all sorts of hold-backs on funds. Take Square for instance, (run by Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter), in their terms of service they state, “We may require a Reserve for any reason related to your use of the Services. The Reserve will be in an amount as reasonably determined by us to cover potential losses to Square. The Reserve may be raised, reduced or removed at any time by Square, in its soul discretion.” This loosely defined access to your funds (both from sales revenues and in your linked bank account) is becoming standard operation for these third-party processors, and is exceptionally scary when you consider that the TOS also give Square the right to keep any funds in their favor from processing errors that go undisputed for 30 days.

We have to think of these tech giants not as some altruistic organization for the betterment of humanity, but self-serving entities capable of attacking anyone whose internet activity does not fall in line with the desired behaviors. Don’t kid yourself, while this may not yet be fully unleashed, it’s naive to believe that it never will be. The billionaires in charge of these mega corporations do not have our best interest. History has shown that the rich and powerful will do whatever they can get away with to keep their profits rising. We have become way too reliant on technological middlemen, who can literally direct our business by controlling the access that others have to our content and/ or advertising. And with the platforms that distribute our content and / or process our payments, we have the added worry of having our funds seized. Anyone who refuses to acknowledge the risks of these two realities shouldn’t be surprised when one day the technological tyranny disrupts their personal or professional livelihood. Don’t believe me? Then I challenge you to get through a day, a week, or even a month without utilizing any product of Facebook (META),Google (Alphabet), Microsoft, or twitter (Block).

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