In a corporatist system of government, wherein there is no meaningful separation between corporate power and state power, corporate censorship is state censorship, argues Caitlin Johnstone in this commentary.
(Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
By Caitlin Johnstone
Last year, representatives of Facebook, Twitter, and Google were instructed on the US Senate floor that it is their responsibility to “quell information rebellions” and adopt a “mission statement” expressing their commitment to “prevent the fomenting of discord.”
“Civil wars don’t start with gunshots, they start with words,” the representatives were told. “America’s war with itself has already begun. We all must act now on the social media battlefield to quell information rebellions that can quickly lead to violent confrontations and easily transform us into the Divided States of America.”
Today Twitter has silenced three important anti-war voices on its platform: it has suspended Daniel McAdams, the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, suspended Scott Horton of the Scott Horton Show, and completely removed the account of prominent Antiwar.com writer Peter Van Buren.
I’m about to talk about the censorship of Alex Jones and Infowars now, so let me get the “blah blah I don’t like Alex Jones” thing out of the way so that my social media notifications aren’t inundated with people saying “Caitlin didn’t say the ‘blah blah I don’t like Alex Jones’ thing!” I shouldn’t have to, because this isn’t actually about Alex Jones, but here it is:
I don’t like Alex Jones. He’s made millions saying the things disgruntled right-wingers want to hear instead of telling the truth; he throws in disinfo with his info, which is the same as lying all the time. He’s made countless false predictions and his sudden sycophantic support for a US president has helped lull the populist right into complacency when they should be holding Trump to his non-interventionist campaign pledges, making him even more worthless than he was prior to 2016.
But this isn’t about defending Alex Jones. He just happens to be the thinnest edge of the wedge.
Infowars has been censored from Facebook, Youtube (which is part of Google), Apple, Spotify, and now even Pinterest, all within hours of each other. This happens to have occurred at the same time Infowars was circulating a petition with tens of thousands of signatures calling on President Trump to pardon WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange, who poses a much greater threat to establishment narratives than Alex Jones ever has. Assange’s mother also reports that this mass removal of Infowars’ audience occurred less than 48 hours after she was approached to do an interview by an Infowars producer.
In a corporatist system of government, wherein there is no meaningful separation between corporate power and state power, corporate censorship is state censorship. Because legalized bribery in the form of corporate lobbying and campaign donations has given wealthy Americans the ability to control the U.S. government’s policy and behavior while ordinary Americans have no effective influence whatsoever, the U.S. unquestionably has a corporatist system of government. Large, influential corporations are inseparable from the state, so their use of censorship is inseparable from state censorship.
This is especially true of the vast mega-corporations of Silicon Valley, whose extensive ties to U.S. intelligence agencies are well-documented. Once you’re assisting with the construction of the US military’s drone program, receiving grants from the CIA and NSA for mass surveillance, or having your site’s content regulated by NATO’s propaganda arm, you don’t get to pretend you’re a private, independent corporation that is separate from government power. It is possible in the current system to have a normal business worth a few million dollars, but if you want to get to billions of dollars in wealth control in a system where money translates directly to political power, you need to work with existing power structures like the CIA and the Pentagon, or else they’ll work with your competitors instead of you
Censorship Through Private Proxy
And yet every time I point to the dangers of a few Silicon Valley plutocrats controlling all new media political discourse with an iron fist, Democratic Party loyalists all turn into a bunch of hardline free market Ayn Rands. “It’s not censorship!” they exclaim. “It’s a private company and can do whatever it wants with its property!”
They do this because they know their mainstream, plutocrat-friendly “centrist” views will never be censored. Everyone else is on the chopping block, however. Leftist sites have already had their views slashed by a manipulation of Google’s algorithms, and it won’t be long before movements like BDS and Antifa and skeptics of the establishment Syria and Russia narratives can be made to face mass de-platforming on the same exact pretext as Infowars.
This is a setup. Hit the soft target so your oligarch-friendly censorship doesn’t look like what it is, then once you’ve manufactured consent, go on to shut down the rest of dissenting media bit by bit.
Don’t believe that’s the plan? Let’s ask sitting US Senator Chris Murphy: “Infowars is the tip of a giant iceberg of hate and lies that uses sites like Facebook and YouTube to tear our nation apart,” Murphy tweeted in response to the news. “These companies must do more than take down one website. The survival of our democracy depends on it.”
That sure sounds an awful lot like the warnings issued to the Silicon Valley representatives on the Senate floor at the beginning of this article, no? This is headed somewhere dark.
We’re going to have to find a way to keep the oligarchs from having their cake and eating it too. Either (A) corporations are indeed private organizations separate from the government, in which case the people need to get money out of politics and government agencies out of Silicon Valley so they can start acting like it, and insist that their owners can’t be dragged out on to the Senate floor and instructed on what they can and can’t do with their business, or (B) these new media platforms get treated like the government agencies they function as, and the people get all the First Amendment protection that comes with it. Right now the social engineers are double-dipping in a way that will eventually give the alliance of corporate plutocrats and secretive government agencies the ability to fully control the public’s access to ideas and information.
If they accomplish that, it’s game over for humanity. Any hope of the public empowering itself over the will of a few sociopathic, ecocidal, omnicidal oligarchs will have been successfully quashed. We are playing for all the chips right now. We have to fight this. We have no choice.
This commentary was originally published on CaitlinJohnstone.com .
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, or her website. She has a podcast and a new book Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers. This article was re-published with permission.
TLDR. At least I was reading until you started yammering about Alex Jones. Alex Jones is an ENTERTAINER> full stop. The MSM lies like it is going out of style all the time. AJ merely points out MSM articles that most people are too busy pulling their dicks and twiddling their clitoris’ to trashy music videos, reality shows and other drivel to even give two shits about. You do know that both sides of the guvmint aisle are controlled by the people whom own government, right? THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CORPORATION is wholly owned by the catholic church. The catholic church IS THE BANK. Just learn some Latin and you will quickly realize that you have been LIED TO your entire life, yet still expect the liars to fix the problems they have caused. PONTIFEX MAXIMUS is the title of the :”pope” and just so you are sure, that office is number 5 down the list. PONTIFEX means “bridge” and MAXIMUS means greatest. Now envision yourself, in ancient Rome, your wife and children in tow, a cart full of your worldly possessions. You are traveling, as we all have an inviolable right to do so. But what is this in front of you? Oh, a river. No bridge anywhere you know of. How do you get across, when you have no boat? Oh look, buddy right there has a boat, he will gladly “transfer” you to the other side – for a hefty fee. So, simplest terms, what are you doing when you get into his boat? You are being transferred from one BANK of the river to the other BANK. YOU ARE THE PRODUCT BEING STOWED IN THE VESSEL. Enter the chief coiner of the realm – the pope. He doesn’t get into some stinking boat, he WALKS ACROSS THE WATER because he owns all the boats. The Great Bridge. ALL POLITICIANS PROMISE ONE THING AND DO ANOTHER> dispute this if you must, but you cannot refute the truth. To say Donald Trump is not doing what he promised as a politician is the same as saying water is wet; just plain stupid, pointless and rhetorical. Why is he doing things other than he promised you say? Because he is doing the bidding of the bank, he “presides” over bankruptcy proceedings, nothing more. The agenda goes forward, regardless of whom is sitting in the big chair. He is not “the leader of the free world” there is nothing free in this world. He not “the most powerful person on the planet” he is a sock puppet like they all are. He is not “the commander in chief”, the military regularly does things without consent or even the knowledge of their “president”. No, we live under military rule, plain and simple. Cicero, a Roman barrister during the time of Gaius of the Julii (Caes) is quoted as saying “silent legis inter arma”, which the gate-keepers will translate for you as “laws are silent during times of war”, but that is not what it actually means. It means” the quiet prison of military rule”. What are the “laws” passed by the CORPUS called? “legislation” – when you are born, which means to “be brought forth”, your irresponsible parents, like my own, take their private property and throw it into the sea. It is then marked, bonded and made into stock and your idiot parents are then merely “allowed” to raise you to maturity. This is done under the fiction of British Maritime Admiralty Law, a corruption of the civilus romanus, Roman civil law, of which Britain is the primary inheritor. You are returned to your parents via maritime salvage laws and they claim 50% of the swamped vessel, rescued at sea. Because it is a”high-order” salvage, meaning risky, they claim another 30%. What risk are they taking, plying this fiction? Well, they are acting contrary to the law, that’s the risk. Because you see, FRAUD is contrary to the actual law. Your “birth certificate” is merely a negotiable instrument, monetized and listing you as a ship berthed in their harbour. Your moron parents did this so you can have “legal rights”. Where does this word legal come from? Legislation? Why are we using the word “legal” in place of the word “law”. Will we call apples oranges now? Let’s call green blue, in addition to the appellation green. What was the Roman military called? LEGIO. So if you want “privileges” you expect “one’s own rule by force” and of course, if you want their military to defend your privileges, you need to fucking pay them and the price gets higher every day. SO – while I appreciate your opinion and will never deny you such, you need to do some REAL research before you start popping off about things you know little to nothing about. I could go on and on and on, but no one is paying me to educate you or anyone else. I do it because I live here to, unlike most people however, I do not expect anyone else to fight my battles for me.
That an elected politician can publicly assert that people must be stopped from saying things the elite do not like in order to save “democracy” says it all.
https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-344-problem-reaction-solution-internet-censorship-edition/
Good analysis, clearly presented, well supported. I encourage all CN commenters to post links to this article, and other CN articles, on MSM news websites. People who get all their news from the MSM bubble need to be told there are important reports and analyses outside that bubble, and then be given good examples such as this.
Caitlin, I always enjoy your stuff.
I try and read as much as possible from American Conservative to Zimbio.
I miss you over on Medium but I have not been happy with them for a while.
“Keep Scribbling”
Cal-
Caitlin is still on medium.
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/latest
She also has her own website now https://caitlinjohnstone.com/
Very well said, Caitlin.
There is a flip side of this that corporate state is missing. Most Americans would not even have read the articles that are being censored. They don’t care. The people that notice are those that are politically inclined – such as the readers of the Consortium news.
Accordingly, what the corporate state is doing – is not the halting the spread of dissent – but rather they are informing the most political aware in our midst that America not a free country. By censoring the news, they are absolutely convincing the most politically active portion of the population that this country is not a real democracy.
Typical of censorship, the censorship has the opposite effect from what was intended.
infowars is no different than msnbc, cnn, fox , etc
each venue has a mission and the main one is profits
That and the de-democratization of the USA and the rest of the world.
That is a very simple- minded viewpoint. Controlling the narrative is about BIG profits for the corporations that own our MSM and government. Some sites, like this one, actually care about the truth.
Ms. Johnstone is right. Government pressure on corporations works but the media in all its forms does a pretty good job of sowing discord without government interference. There are so few instances where the government and the major media are not in sync, they are hard to find. As to allowing the lonely voices of worthy organizations like Consortium News, why should they bother. Allowing them creates the pretense of free speech. If they become dangerous, the mood of our elected officials is to fix the problem as Ms. Johnstone rightly notes. The defense of freedom of speech by government and the major media is very selective, and the use of the calling fire in a loaded theatre standard is a big enough vehicle for suppression to drive a truck through, a whole convoy in fact.
As an aside, watching Sixty Minutes on their hit piece about Russian interference in our elections was an example of sloppy journalism that seems to be the norm. when it is about Russia. I was about to say they never used to be like that, but I think that is probably not true.
I’m afraid you’ve got things ass backwards… corporations and the FED bought the government long ago.
https://therealnews.com/series/max-blumenthal-on-the-silicon-valley-dc-internet-police
Bulls-eye!!!! especially on Democratic party loyalists who perform a much more important function for plutocracy than the Republicans and the Tea Party – to rally around fake progressive politics dripping out of the DNC, and effectively drain off the pressure building for true progressive politics.
Its okay for a website to interact with whoever they want or don’t want.
But is it OK for a public utility – like a telecom or an electric company – to refuse to provide service to your home because they don’t like your political views?
On the other hand, are Youtube and Facebook like public utilities (argument A) or like book publishing houses (argument B) – clearly, a book publisher is under no obligation to publish a book by an author they don’t like.
So if it is A, then I do believe Youtube would be, under free speech laws in the United States, forced to host all non-illegal video content, so ah, everything on pornhub? Tricky. Would this become a public utility?
If it is B, then it looks like anti-trust is needed, as Youtube and Facebook and Twitter are approaching monopolistic control of this particular market. How does one break up social media into multiple independent corporate entities? Like Standard Oil being broken up into the Seven Sisters by Teddy Roosevelt?
This requires some consideration. Personally, I still think the corporate telecoms and the overthrow of net neutrality are a much greater censorship threat than anything Facebook or Youtube or Twitter could do. Alex Jones can still use his independent web server – but what if ATT, Verizon and Comcast decide to throttle all connections to his website? Isn’t that the greater risk to free speech?
As Lionel of Lionel Nation (check out his twice daily YouTube live streams with chat at 8 a.m EST and 8pm EST) likes to say, “You know you are over the target when you start getting fired on.”
Alex Jones was “over the target” with his advocacy for Julian Assange with an upcoming interview of Assange’s mother and the petition being circulated.
Love or hate Jones, everyone should download his Info Wars APP just to show our support for the 1st Amendment.
Either you support trying to discover the TRUTH about Assange and the “DNC leaks” or you do not. Assange might be the American people’s last hope to discover “who” was responsible for the DNC leaks and if it truly was NOT “Russia”, then to blow Mueller’s witch hunt straight outta the water!
Supporting Alex Jones’ right to speak freely should be a top priority of EVERY American who loves The Constitution. Because unless the American people know the TRUTH, we will not be able to govern ourselves by choosing representatives who stand for the TRUTH come election day.
And if there isn’t anyone to vote for (in my case I live in Maxine Waters’ district), I will be writing in my own name.
Walk away from the completely corrupted Democrat Party!
This is a good example of Caitlin explaining what is going on in the American media wars which is crucial for people to know.
Our access to information, other than government propaganda, is becoming very limited because the few major social network corporations are owned by a few wealthy individuals or private government contractors. They are monopolies which should be designated public utilities, and regulated as such, or broken up into smaller entities, allowing for competition.
It is important to preserve what is left of our freedom of expression and our free press. The ability to comment on reporting and discuss it with others is diminishing while sources are becoming more and more restricted.
Government and big business fight the public for control of information and opinion. We have to collectively save our stake in democracy by rejecting censorship.
A very incisive article documenting certain behavior between those in power and their monopoly over the dissemination of news. The power elite knows that they must control the narrative that favors them and any other view contrary to their economic and political interests must be dismissed. The author is correct to assert that “America’s war with itself has already begun” This article reminds me of that famous quote stating that “Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of state and corporate power”
Wow! Thanks for putting this all together. You rock!
The INTERNET has been described correctly as the modern equivalent to the public square. Facebook, twitter, google etc. are PLATFORMS (soapboxes, stumps) or picnic tables in that public park or square.
The question is, should they be allowed to claim private OWNERSHIP of large sections of this public space? And who but the people can stop them? I have made suggestions about HOW we can stop them.
Well said. Looks like we’ve got another enclosure of the Commons action going on.
You make some very good points. Alas, I disagree about Alex Jones. The very few times I’ve listened to his videos, it seemed to me every last thing he said was absolutely true and correct. So I don’t know where the idea comes from that he speaks disinformation. He’s sometimes obnoxious and hard to watch. But that’s a different thing. His words are accurate, particularly about the globalists, the deep state, US-Russia relations, and Trump.
It might be relevant that I have never heard of Alex Jones or Peter Van Buren until now. I believe they will have MORE listeners now!
Mild-ly – Faceitous
February 27, 2018 at 11:43 pm
Listen and Learn
from the lyrics of
American refugees
Trapped in systemic
Allotment of “rights”
Under Presumption
of Guilt by Authority
instilled by Supremacy
Doctrines framed by
the Mutuality of Skin
and of Culture and
Enviro-Education
Bonding of Mind thru
agreement of thought,
and Philosophy of Life
and the continuum of
a human species which
develops according to
Science, even as War
Devours the Innocent
with ever increasing
Ravenous gulps of
Grief and Flesh of
Humans Drowning
and Bombings
and Gassing or
Severed Heads
as Definition of
Provoked Intent as
if suicide bombers
weren’t evidential
proof of the
derangement of
society provoked
by the American
Military upon a
stable society
under the guise of
a fictional account
and the ongoing
tale/ Arab Militants
flew planes into
WTC skyscrapers
And you all,
in faithful USA
gullibility, swiftly
swallowed that
straight story, as
depicted on the
National Media
in it’s (optimally)
Best Demonstrative
Public Accusing,
fell for the Media’s
Opaque Saga of
‘Usama bin Ladin’
who’s story was
promised in a
“White Paper”
from Colin Powell
&Never Appeared
as if words from
a puff of smoke
never intended
but illusions leading
to an acceptance/
a national agreement/
an acceptance of the
annihilation of a whole
society of people
who’ve lived/thrived
together as One for
Mammouth centuries
are now decimated,and,
displaced civilizations,
wandering/lost/hollow
holy barbarians in search
of food,shelter and peace
from American made Bombs
that’ve shattered the life
they’ve known under
a Stable Government
before the Western Powers’
Imperious offensive
imperious offensive
Imperious offensive
imperious offensive
thrust / rape /onslaught
of “The Arab Spring”
that “awakened” the gentle
Arabs of Kahlil Gibran
into A sudden Western
economic model of
a deluded modernity
devoid of the sincerity
that Truth requires???
How have we gotten
to /
where we are now?
In multiple Trillion dollar
sales of Weapons and
Ongoing wars and
human beings Murdered
by BOMBS/ Blown Up
as if newspaper dolls filled
with candies as
puffs of smoke?
disintegrated in
collateral damage
to the delight of
Corporate Bomb Makers
who’s delight is in Profits
and The Bottom Line and
Mr. Trump will
Make
America
Great
Again…
Y’all ain’t never just tripped and pictured
And just looked at the whole situation
‘Cause once you look at it
You know, (really do)
[Hook: 2Pac]
They don’t give a fuck about us
They don’t give a fuck about us
They don’t give a fuck about us
If I choose to ride, thuggin’ ’til the day I die
Nobody give a fuck about us
And when I start to rise
A hero in their children’s eyes
Now they give a fuck about us
[Verse 1: 2Pac]
Some say niggas is hard-headed ‘cause we love to trip
Equipped with game so we bang with this thuggish shit
I see you tryin’ to hide, hopin’ that nobody don’t notice
You must always remember: you’re still a member of the hopeless
See, you’re black like me, so you snap like me
When these devils try to plot, trap our young black seeds
Look it, cops are just as crooked as the niggas they chasin’
Lookin’ for role models, our father figures is basers
Some say they expect Illuminati take my body to sleep
Niggas at the party with they shotties just as rowdy as me
Before I fear computer chips, I gotta deal with brothers flippin’
I don’t see no devils bleedin’, only black blood drippin’
We can change — what your mouth say?
I’m watchin’ niggas work their lives out without pay
Whatever it takes to switch places with the busters on top
I’m bustin’ shots, make the world stop
They don’t give a fuck about us
[Hook: 2Pac]
Now If I choose to ride, thuggin’ ’til the day I die
Nobody gives a fuck about us
But when I start to rise
A hero in their children’s eyes
Now they give a fuck about us
If I choose to ride, thuggin’ ’til the day I die
Nobody gives a fuck about us
But when I start to rise
A hero in their children’s eyes
Now they give a fuck about us
[Verse 2: E.D.I. Mean]
It’s the morning after and now all the laughter is gone
Time to reflect on what you did, ‘cause they sayin’ you wrong
I’m sure you had your reasons, dawg, I don’t doubt ya
See, the simple fact of the matter is they don’t give a fuck about ya
Or them five mouths you forced to feed, not includin’ yourself
All you want is wealth, they perceive it as greed
So as you loaded up that MAC and continue to buck ’em
I was on paper, thinkin’ they don’t give a fuck about us
[Verse 3: 2Pac]
I’m seein’ it clearer, hatin’ the picture in the mirror
They claim we inferior, so why the fuck these devils fear ya?
I’m watchin’ my nation die, genocide the cause
Expect a blood bath, the aftermath is y’alls
I told you, last album, we need help cause we dyin’
Give us a chance, help us advance, ‘cause we tryin’
Ignore my whole plea, watchin’ us in disgust
And then they beg when my guns bust
They don’t give a fuck about us
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YItXQTyD_48&frags=pl%2Cwn
I’m 73 year old man
and I still bust out in tears
when I hear these lyrics… .
I actually think this is going to blow up against Twitter. Jones seems to be getting more listeners. More and more people coming out to complain about this, mostly so-called conservatives, and i wonder if there might be a basis for a class action lawsuit. Also I note in looking up Chris Murphy that he comes up for re-election in November, and his Republican challengers claim he has “torn apart Connecticut” (whatever that means) so he might be vulnerable; he is listed as “one of the poorest members of Congress”.
They do this because they know their mainstream, plutocrat-friendly “centrist” views will never be censored.
Everyone else is on the chopping block, however.
Leftist sites have already had their views slashed by a manipulation of Google’s algorithms, and it won’t be long before movements like BDS and Antifa and skeptics of the establishment Syria and Russia narratives can be made to face mass de-platforming on the same exact pretext as Infowars.
—- compare that, if you’ve a clue, (not to obfuscate your subject), Caitlan Johnstone, with, not mere censorship, but the Protection of ‘Confidential’ information such as the Industrial Pharma INDUSTRY OF DEATH (shades -of -nazi-germany??? )via INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION and PRESCRIBING OF OPIOIDS as if Huxley’s “Soma” or/and a preview of ” The Chemical and Bacteriological Conditioning of the Embryo. – Practical Instructions for Beta Embryro-Store Workers /// as in government forced vaccinations along with Facebook enforced capitulation of any/all — Personal Sovereign Belief/s massively defaulting and bowing the knee and Becoming Persuaded and Trapped into inescapable Autocracy, by reason of Darwin-esk dissembling and a dis-informed election to Dissent Into The Maelstrom of the sinking ship of American Exceptionalism, — as if God could/would “forgive” all-of-the-collective Brutality of Bombs, bullets, Uranium Munitions / CRIPPLING Sanctions imposted — support of brutal dictators Who massacred INNOCENT Civilians in order to obtain/secure US MILITARY FUNDS, in order to secure autocratic/authoritative CONTROL …
We are engulfed in a Molding Faze of acceptance of/into a totally new Reality strangely built upon Nazi science/experiments, now Entering an/the Age of Space-Age manipulation of DNA, Gene Manipulation — origins of species ordered inside test tubes.
George Gilder prophetically saw this in this and more in his prescient 1990’s book, MICROCOSM. —
George Gilder and his Discovery Institute were far Ahead – of -the -curve in this ‘Facebook” era of Futurisms … .
Please find and consider his book, esp as it relates to technological possibilities and the New Wonders (Brave New Worlds) of Gene splicing / manipulation . …
So glad you’re being published here, Caitlin. <3
“It is possible in the current system to have a normal business worth a few million dollars, but if you want to get to billions of dollars in wealth control in a system where money translates directly to political power, you need to work with existing power structures like the CIA and the Pentagon, or else they’ll work with your competitors instead of you.”
Actually, If companies get big, they become potential big tools/weapons for the war-making State, at which point they will be offered a deal that they can’t refuse, as one would expect within this gangster Corporatocracy. Look at Wikileaks. Mozilla simply jumped on the fake news bandwagon, so they are now safe, as Aaron Kesel at Activist Post points out. Lavabit’s owner, Ladar Levinson had principles and was loyal to his customers (including Edward Snowden) whom he didn’t want to betray just because the Corporatocracy State demanded it, and so he shut down. He revived his company once he figured out ways to shield his customers from the war-making State that attacks us all in the name of ‘national security’.
So, it’s a little more dire than the government just deciding to favor your competitors, which of course the amazing Caitlin knows.
With all of this capture by tech giants, innovators, by the war-making State (Randolph Bourne), How will end? I have more than one answer to that. One of those answers is the obvious one: Ramped up counterrevolution, in the area of cyberspace mainly, in the State’s war against the people. And such a war is underway as any number of authors have demonstrated thoroughly. And its not (just) Russia attacking the people. Jeff Halper wrote “War Against The People.” Nick Buxton and Ben Hayes edited “The Secure And The Dispossessed.” Douglas Valentine wrote “The Phoenix Program,” which he notes wasn’t confined to Vietnam. Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman wrote the devastating two-volume “Political Economy Of Human Rights,” which included “The Washington Connection And Third World Fascism.” And Edward Herman wrote: “The Real Terror Network.” All of those books and many others talk about counterrevolution and the counterinsurgency (State terrorism) that goes with it.
And counterrevolution and counterinsurgency doesn’t have to be of the extreme variety, such as in South Vietnam when the US was torturing that country to death. Caitlin has talked about how the State (New Zealand) went to work on her friend, Suzie Dawson. Read the account. It’s quite illuminating.
What do you call ‘thinking’ that is against ‘thinking’ (and what we consider to be a part of innovation that leads to inventions that elevate society? It’s called counterrevolution. That’s where our corrupt tech giants have gone. It won’t end well for them, even if they think otherwise and even if they feel safe because they are with the big guy. There’s a bigger guy who has that big guy in his sights.
“Thinking About Thinking” – https://arrby.wordpress.com/2018/04/13/thinking-about-thinking/
“41 Tags, 17 Entries And No Views. Bookmark Me Maybe?” – https://arrby.wordpress.com/2018/08/11/41-tags-17-entries-and-no-views-bookmark-me-maybe/
“We Do What We’re Told” – Peter Gabriel; “So”
Somehow I had missed those words from our elected “representatives” in Congressional hearing. What these political pimps and whores don’t want us to do is get together and agree to dispel the bullshit that we’re up to our necks in right now.
As far as I know this is the first piece I’ve read by Caitlin Johnstone, and I agree with her general premise that this is more than just ominous. More and more of our elected “representatives” talk and act like alien totalitarians.
The good news is that Trump’s “trade” and saber-rattling belligerence is finally awakening the rest of humanity to the fundamental non-starter of a unipolar anything. That one entity so militarily, politically, and economically dominant that it can cause pain and suffering wherever and whenever it decides. It is ironic that Trump’s MAGA is the act in this play that will dethrone the USA. The downside is that the 99% control NOTHING (this is true across most of the planet.) Another downside is that the megalomaniacs in power will not concede power without a cataclysmic conflict. But nothing is set in stone, though the indications don’t look promising.
Very well stated re Ms. Johnstone’s astute analysis, the political hackery prevalent in Washington and the counterproductive power plays by Trump. Hope you are wrong about the cataclysm, but I agree, it does seem inevitable because those megalomaniacs are not gonna give.
Check out James Corbett’s views on this subject.
https://www.corbettreport.com/episode-344-problem-reaction-solution-internet-censorship-edition/
Johnstone is spot on: now that the ivory tower Silicon Valley corporates have pulled the plug on Alex Jones arguing it is ‘hate speech’ and ‘fake news’–essentially disappearing him, it is inevitable that other political news websites and journalists which question the ‘Russia stole the election’ Intelligence community/Clinton/MSM/Washington narrative will be on the chopping block next. When giant hi-tech corporations have a monopoly over the handful of sites the vast majority of people use (Facebook/Youtube/Twitter/etc)–what happens to 1st Amendment rights to Freedom of the Press? Evidently it has been tossed out the window along with Alex Jones. I totally, completely support complete freedom of the press and expression: let the public think for themselves. This nanny state bullshit i.e. ‘we’re protecting you from fake news’ is a trojan horse for corporate-governmental censorship and thought control.
Black Agenda Report makes the point I’ve been making forever, and not getting any support for it, namely, Hate speech laws are a bad idea. That is because they will eventually be used by the enemy against us. James Corbett has some things to say (in a rather tortured fashion) about the censoring of Alex Jones et al. Basically, Once the government steps in to regulate the censorious (private sector) orgs spewing what some call hate speech, that in effect protects orgs that are subject to that regulation. I guess it’s akin to getting a stamp of approval – officialness – from the government. And if the org is in fact anti-people… And as for the orgs that don’t get the stamp of approval…
“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”
“But the peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth; if wrong, they lose what is always a great benefit – the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error.”
– JOHN STUART MILL (1806-1873) English political economist, philosopher
And thus we see the vital importance of the court jester or “fool” in the old kingdoms, for only he was able speak the truth, or a contrary opinion, without getting his head chopped off.
Well that’s all very pretty but Facebook and twitter are private property and have the right to run their own affairs as they see fit, within acceptable legal guidelines,they’re not violating their guidelines.
Oh Lord save us, the freethinking human race are stricken! Twitter and Facebook are looking after their own self interest and stifling debate through censorship which only in French is them further, what will he innocent humans do, gas! Use alternative platforms.
“In A Corporatist System Of Government, Corporate Censorship Is State Censorship”
Well said, indeed.
Readers may also enjoy this short analysis:
https://chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2018/08/09/john-chuckman-comment-the-truly-dangerous-tendencies-of-our-mainline-press-and-internet-tech-giants-media-to-bring-us-serious-censorship-disguised-as-protection-from-scoundrels-the-case-of-alex-jon/
Something must be getting into the water supply either by accident or design to induce the mass hypnosis that has so many presumably intelligent people believing that we must all walk in lockstep on every policy the elites want. Maybe we are all zombified from the massive amounts of Xanax, Valium, Oxycontin and other mind-numbing psychoactive agents our population consumes and pisses, unmetabolized, into the water table to be recycled into our drinking water, obviating the need for a personal prescription to enjoy (suffer) the effects.
It’s a real pity if the totally transparent sham scare stories they have disseminated are alone enough to convince most of the people to give up their constitutional rights and privacy. Clearly the tactic of the big lie doesn’t work on every last individual or sites like this one would not have an audience. That is why they want to shut us down, and Alex Jones, though not a member of this journal club, is just the first step towards an outcome that will encompass everyone remaining outside an all pervasive Groupthink.
Ideas, beliefs, memes, values, customs, habits and such are not received universally from some inspirational force on high. (You are simply told to believe that from earliest childhood.) They are spread through the population like a virus from mind-to-mind contact, whether in person or via some modality of mass communication, like the TV or the internet. The object of censorship, as per Alex Jones or Ron Paul most recently, is to extirpate the source of “infection” as close to its point of origin as possible, before it can be spread to too many carriers for transmission to others. People tend to believe what they hear and what they hear comes from their regular contacts. Shut down their favorite talk show host or internet site and they become starved for new “seditious” ideas. If they never hear a truth, chances are they won’t think it up themselves and certainly not act upon it.
Another thing I am pretty sure of: if their attempts at propaganda, psy-ops and mind control do not work to their satisfaction, unadorned thuggery will become the new standard. I know, I know, some of our number already get a taste of that.
Realist-
Thanks for all your comments here on CN. I enjoy them as much as the articles. Caitlin is a real voice for truth. I read her stuff almost every day.
I am hopeful because many of the younger generation are “cord cutters”. They have abandoned the MSM in droves. Propaganda is still overwhelming, and many opt for mind numbing “entertainment”, but I hope I am seeing a crack in the empire’s armor. We really need to battle the evil ones at this stage as they attempt to silence alternative voices on the internet. These so-called “private companies” are mostly government controlled, and fascism in its truest sense, is the new normal. The events of this past week should be a wake-up call for us all. Alex Jones, Peter Van Buren, and Ron Paul are bellwethers for what is to come.
Skip Scott – quite agree. Caitlin is truly excellent and embraces both the big picture and the details. She also manages to do it with both passion and humanity which much appreciated in a world increasingly lacking both.
Realist –
“Another thing I am pretty sure of: if their attempts at propaganda, psy-ops and mind control do not work to their satisfaction, unadorned thuggery will become the new standard . . . ”
You have it absolutely right. There have been markers all along since G.W. Bush/Cheney rule, clear indicators of this new Future.
But some of us are so desperate to have a better and peaceful future for the humanity on this planet that we get our hopes high for any silver lining in the sky – Obama’s hope and change, now Trump’s getting along with Russia and stopping interventions abroad.
Now it seems like there is this new hoax the Democrats are going to perpetrate, candidates with some type of socialist orientation, like Bernie Sanders supposedly has been or is. The politicians in both parties are accomplished ConMen, in service of the real Masters – MIC, Wall Street Finance, Media and Entertainment, working to bring this new Future. Bernie Sanders is no different.
“Now it seems like there is this new hoax the Democrats are going to perpetrate, candidates with some type of socialist orientation, like Bernie Sanders supposedly has been or is. ”
I have noticed this ploy as well. They are willing to have a few faux progressives to keep the progressive wing of the party from abandoning them altogether. They use Sanders, and now this new Ocasio-Cortez, to sell their “big tent” narrative, and then co-op them when it comes to all the important issues. They also constantly sell the idea that voting for third party candidates is a waste of time, so you have to settle for “the lesser of evils” when it comes time for a new president. I don’t know how long they can keep playing the same con-game before people see through it, but if it happens again in 2020, I think we are doomed.
The Democratic incumbent running for the senate in Florida (Bill Nelson) has made me so angry by yet again using the party con against Russia that I could never vote for him even though his opponent is the horrendous Governor Rick Scott (who plead guilty to defrauding Medicare to the tune of a billion dollars for his Columbia HMO system prior to his election). I cannot abide such theft of taxpayer money in broad daylight, but I also cannot accept Nelson’s spewing lies that Russia has actively hacked the Florida voter roles, plans to delete registrations and disrupt the November elections. You know who’s really more likely to do those things? The Democratic and Republican parties.
Nelson is just making pre-emptive excuses for the loss that he sees coming. If he believes his desperate gambit can work, he must think the voters are damned idiots to believe that Russia would persist in perpetrating sabotage against American interests putting them constantly in the crosshairs of our politicians and media. He must think that Floridians will buy any tall tale that their elected officials tell them, totally unsupported by any evidence. We are to believe that Assad never stops trying to poison his own people and that Putin never stops interfering in American elections. (Why should Putin favor Rick Scott? Because he admires American crooks?) If you truly believe such accusations, it is probably logical that you would favor WAR with that country. I will vote for someone from the Baader-Meinhof gang or the Taliban Party (if there is such a beast) before either Nelson or Scott. Or I won’t vote at all.
I completely understand your sense of frustration. My residence is Arizona, home of John McCain. The one thing that keeps me going to the polls is that they have “propositions” on the ballet, which are as close as we get to direct democracy in the good ol’ USA. There is rarely anyone worth voting for at the state level, but for Presidential elections I vote for whichever party seems to be running a “peace” candidate in the primary, and then vote Green party in the general, since the “peace candidate” has never won the primary.
Jesus, where’s my editor. “Ballet” for ballot, yikes! I also noticed another one above “co-op” for co-opt. I’m really not as dumb as I sometimes appear- Honest!
I haven’t missed an election since 1968. Even the “little elections” for City Council etc.
This time I have to decide between Maxine Waters and some dunderhead Republican who doesn’t even have a website or any scheduled events.
I will be writing in my own name. I suggest everyone do the same when they are faced with “NO” choice!
Beautiful, I shared on FB with “the progressive’s soapbox”. Love this article, hate what it illuminates. We all must never let the Supreme Court equate corporations and human beings. Thanks Caitlin, keep giving them hell.
Way to go Caitlin you pretty well, no change that to you hit a bullseye on the target, that we are now inside a fairly stressful area of our society’s evolvement into our being a complete fascist police state. Now, the censorship do gooders are out in full force protecting our democracy. Great, what they are really saying, is they are here to crush what’s left of our civil liberties. First it was the war on terrorism, so now we are closing down information suspect of being Russian propaganda. How paranoid is that. How awful for our First Amendment Rights. Good article Ms Johnstone. Joe
That’s interesting but I seriously doubt the sensors where our government writ large for that matter is going to be able to control the narrative, particularly for that series of sigh ops
Ms. Johnstone your observation if a corporate run state is overstated. All departments of government contract and grant funds to the private sector. No one complains when funds are granted to Head Start. Your argument could say Head Start grants are corporate governments access to citizen mind control through pre K education. That is ridiculous because of grant and contract language that defines the scope of work. If you find contract language between the government and social media businesses that invest the private sector with constitutional obligations then you might have something to go on. Otherwise you are just complaining about the user agreements that grant social media site owners to do what they want. If you don’t like the user agreements setup a website and put your own spin on it. However don’t be surprised if you are sure for aiding terrorists or promoting harm against others. Government will not defend you because censorship laws don’t extend to the private sector.
Head start is a federal program.
Sure, anyone can set up a vast monopoly any day.
Liberty and justice for gangsters.
Once again we are dealing with “Freedom” of expression, and what to do about restrictions to this freedom. – If the Guardian, New York Times, CNN, Fox, Facebook, or Google will not print or air your views, you must find a “platform”, soapbox, paper, or web page that WILL, or create your own. – Someone who is not banned will surely direct your followers to where you can be found. This would be good for you, followers, as well as possibly alienating these MSM to some degree at least. After all, why do we want to tell all these people what they don’t want to hear? I hope someone can direct me to a place where I can hear what I want to hear.(CN if it gets banned from google for instance) Those who want to hear will find a way, and those who don’t want to will find a way to avoid doing so.
These big “platforms” do NOT own the internet. They only own the very many minds that have flocked there.
Remember – Freedom is NOT given, granted, allowed, or imposed. It must be TAKEN, and the cost is full acceptance of all consequences.
You appear to say that those who can be fooled by monopoly media are to blame.
But plainly they do not “own the very many minds that have flocked there”.
Why would you seek to allow them to dominate whomever can be dominated?
Then your notion that freedom “must be taken” is allowing it to be taken away.
And you appear to threaten those who would take it back, with “consequences.”
Did you miss that these corporations are being pushed by the govt? This is not just a free-will business decision. Again, look at the stacking of ex-spooks within the MSM and it becomes clear that media outlets, and social media outlets, are being told just how they ought to operate.
Ten status-quo system is under dire threat because it’s unstable due to its long operating in corrupt waters. This media crackdown is but a sign of it losing control: and the more it cracks down the more it loses control.
So much to disagree with where to begin: first off katelyn you actually want to make more corporate entities that are highly authoritarian already part of in Everal larger bureaucracy? That is so fundamentally wrongheaded it makes my back teeth hurt first off the myriad of alternative platforms are only going to thrive under this type of censorship and that will help drive the downfall of the dinosaurs in the Legacy media. The MSN has been attacking YouTube, Facebook and twitter, it is time to move on from these platforms as they are no longer useful,
Secondly while I cannot believe I am saying this but I actually agree with the liberals, these are private companies and whether they are being compelled or are just choosing to be cultural policeman on their own initiative, it is there prerogative. Unfortunate, likely fatal Long term but their free choice.
On a sidenote, if the public thought this was a completely public space to say whatever they wish, they were misinformed. Pretending this is ever been different is kind of quaint, on the other hand as much of a setback to free speech as this seems, I think we really need to recognize the amazing amount of truly quality alternative media that is going on right now, we are in a Renaissance, the market will adapt, this is a growth industry, the MSM is ridiculed even by the president and rightfully so, if we do not all end up dead from some idiotic war due to our Government bad judgment, we will all be telling our grandchildren that we were here, fighting the good fight when so many of our countrymen were taken in by the propaganda.
Finally Caitlin what is up with this utopia prepping? I’m sure Hitler Stalin and Mao were all shooting for utopia as well you should try reading some Hayek.
Dunderhead – you =” these are private companies and whether they are being compelled or are just choosing to be cultural policeman on their own initiative, it is there prerogative.” Moi – really?
One can only glean from your comment that you would support such “private companies” – “prerogative”- to choose not to abide by other basic U.S. laws or constitutional rights should they choose not to. Why should they hire people of races, religions or sexual orientations should they choose not to, if legally abiding by constitutionally based basic legal rights to “free speech” are optional for them?
It would seem that the argument that corporations are “legal persons” melts away into some fuzzy netherworld for some when corporations choose to step “outside” the legal rights we mere mortal persons known as humans are subject to, and instead assume some “right” to both be a “legal person” – yet be able to also legally violate the law and the constitution. Unfortunately this kind of muddled thinking permeates “libertarian” and some conservative thinking which somehow struggles to connect even the simplest of dots in such matters. Perhaps it is fear of offending – the “invisible hand” with its “miraculous” powers. One can only guess the reasoning, if any exists, for those who choose to deify corporate power.
Though you failed to mention it, one must also assume that you would find it necessary to end any and all government contracts with, or grants to, such “private companies” that decide to exercise their choice/initiative/prerogative to ignore constitutionally protected “freedom of speech.” Or is it the “immortal” aspect of corporations acting as essentially – “immortal legal persons” – that you think grants them the godlike power to simply defy the law – unlike we mere mortals? Just wondering.
Well Gary I must say it’s always a joy to read such emotionally loaded strawman arguments but hey everyone’s a closet authoritarian these days so knock yourself out. The point is pretending we have any power in this matter is preposterous! If any legislation get written it will be to the detriment of free-speech and not to encourage or protected.
Well I personally disdain the fact that corporations are considered free individuals under US law that is the social construct we living, if you can find a way out of that that works I’ll get behind but it doesn’t exist. Expecting the government to inshore free speech would be analogous to the pre- Revolutionary war propagandists/patriots give over censorship to the British crown.
@ Dunderhead: “Well I personally disdain the fact that corporations are considered free individuals under US law that is the social construct we living, if you can find a way out of that that works I’ll get behind but it doesn’t exist.”
Incorrect. See the We the People Amendment. https://movetoamend.org/wethepeopleamendment
60 sponsors so far in the House, endorsed by 8 state governments and over 600 local units of government.
Gary, plodding through all the comments I thought you had the most to say and make the essential point.
“Though you failed to mention it, one must also assume that you would find it necessary to end any and all government contracts with, or grants to, such “private companies” that decide to exercise their choice/initiative/prerogative to ignore constitutionally protected “freedom of speech.” Or is it the “immortal” aspect of corporations acting as essentially – “immortal legal persons” – that you think grants them the godlike power to simply defy the law – unlike we mere mortals? Just wondering.”
To the point.
1. No, the article does not seek to “make… corporate entities …part of… bureaucracy”
Regulation of mass media to prevent monopoly of media is not monopoly.
2. “private companies …choosing to be cultural policeman …is there prerogative”
No, mass media have a responsibility to be balanced and must be so regulated.
3. The writer’s “utopia prepping” is obviously not to be confused with Hitler or Stalin.
1 the bureaucracies in charge of a given industry are almost invariably headed by interested parties from those very industries and do not represent the public interest.
2 No, mass media have a responsibility to be balanced and must be so regulated. That is so monumentally fall on the floor absurdly comical, when have our Lords and Masters ever sought to ensure a fair and a level playing field much less freedom of speech, dear God man.
3 everyone who is ever sought to instill their version of Utopia on this world has created a hell in its place
We are the change agents, we decide our futures
2 – The Fairness Doctrine was in place from 1949-1987. “The main agenda for the doctrine was to ensure that viewers were exposed to a diversity of viewpoints…The courts (1969) reasoned that the scarcity of the broadcast spectrum, which limited the opportunity for access to the airwaves, created a need for the doctrine.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FCC_fairness_doctrine
Obviously the “limited opportunity” of the broadcast spectrum has since been superseded by the internet, but the public good by exposure to a “diversity of viewpoints” is not served by the restriction of designated viewpoints. That these restrictions have been engaged at the instigation of elected representatives is a real concern.
1. Yes, bureaucracies are often corrupted, but where government is not, mass media can be regulated to prevent monopoly.
2. Yes, a government of “Lords and Masters” will never achieve anything positive, but a working democracy can ensure a level playing field and freedom of speech.
3. The writer has not sought to enforce a personal vision of Utopia.
Yes, we are the change agents, but how can one restore a functioning democracy assuming that government can never function properly?
First off I have no doubt that Mrs. Johnstone is a kind and conscientious person with no particularly nefarious plans for an authoritarian society on the other hand whenever I see the words utopia it makes me think it’s time to buy that land up Main if you know what I mean.
My beef with regulation toward free speech is the same as my beef toward regulation in let’s say the nuclear regulatory agency, it stifles innovation and when you actually get to some breakout technology such as thorium fluoride fission as well as other related Technologies self interested parties always manage to suppress that which would be most in the public good and most difficult to regulate under a giant bureaucracy. You end up with a gigantic institutionalized corporate bureaucracy that will find 1000 ways from Sunday to enforce their own censorship and for what, as I have stated previously this is a growth industry. You would be better advised to think along the lines of either anti-trust suits for these megalopolis or some further extraterritorial taxation though a stricter observance of the antitrust laws would be preferable.
In my opinion, it is not in the government’s interest to truly Foster free speech, that is the job of the American culture the polis, a society that relies on law for regulation to enforce a certain behavior will inherently be un free.
@ Dunderhead: “In my opinion, it is not in the government’s interest to truly Foster free speech, that is the job of the American culture the polis, a society that relies on law for regulation to enforce a certain behavior will inherently be un free.”
I’ll disagree to a degree. Free speech has largely worked in the U.S. because of a judiciary zealous to protect it. To be sure, culture plays a part, but the Supreme Court’s case law on prior restraints of speech has been a very hard nut for any government argument to crack. And likewise, regulation of the telephone industry has produced a system that is accessible to all (if they can afford it).
Something similar could be done in the corporate digital context by legislation:
* Requiring that all free publishing services be deemed “essential utilities” that must be made available to all without discrimination;
* Forbidding those services from denying service absent an authorizing court order (incorporating prior restraint on speech case law).
* Providing liberal remedies, including court costs and attorney fees, for those whose right of publication is challenged unsuccessfully.
While the above is only an example, such approaches use bureaucratic inertia to protect a civil right; that is, the individual publisher “owns” the status quo, not the publishing service. The service must hire lawyers and go to court to ban a user, with scant likelihood of success in most cases. And because there is an incentive for lawyers to represent users, the service is more or less guaranteed to have high legal costs for a minimal likelihood of success.
Caitlin thanks especially for this paragraph
In is not just the US but its entire empire that this generally applies.
Without critical thinking and diversity of opinion the window to the Truth becomes opaque. In the US the Window to the Truth is a mirror. The simple answer to corporate censorship is to stop using their service.
You might want to explore the topics discussed by Winkler in his brilliant new book, “We the Corporation.”
It presents a wonderful history of the path taken that has enabled corporations to being so favorably viewed by the Supreme Court.
Dick Swenson
Walla Walla, WA
Of course, available at amazon dot com.
Zero Hedge tonight has an interesting article by Charles Hugh Smith, “The Grand Irony of Russiagate: US Becomes More Like USSR Every Day”. The clampdown in the old Soviet Union before its collapse has parallels to what’s going on in US now.
It’s got to do with a declining civilization. It’s well recorded in Sir John Glubb’s “The Fate of Empires and Search For Survival.” It’s got little to do with ideology as it has to do with (though Glubb failed to make the connection) on premising a civilization on perpetual growth (on a finite planet)- always an overreach occurs in which case the citizens/subjects are forced harder into line in order to extort resources from others. But, this work is excellent in how it shows, through a wide range of differing leadership, a fairly predictable societal cycle.
I believe that anyone wanting to meaningfully discuss world affairs in earnest read Glubb’s work as well as Dr. Albert Bartlett’s “Arithmetic, Population and Energy” (video is widely available on the Internet).
Here is an interesting look at how both Facebook and Google are justifying their censorship of the internet:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2018/08/censorship-its-alive-and-well-and.html
The biggest question is where do we draw the line between truth and propaganda, government-based or otherwise?
Free speech accepts all points of view, and lets the public decide what they believe or not. Paternalism wants to do your thinking for you.
If there was any need for censorship (which there is not) then the MSM should be the first target.
“Right now the social engineers are double-dipping in a way that will eventually give the alliance of corporate plutocrats and secretive government agencies the ability to fully control the public’s access to ideas and information.
If they accomplish that, it’s game over for humanity. Any hope of the public empowering itself over the will of a few sociopathic, ecocidal, omnicidal oligarchs will have been successfully quashed. We are playing for all the chips right now. We have to fight this. We have no choice.”
We have been warned. This is it. The noose around all our necks is relentlessly tightening. Did you really think the super-rich bastards had any mercy or human feelings?
From Wikipedia. Fascism:
Fascism (/?fæ??z?m/) is a form of radical authoritarian ultranationalism,[1][2] characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy.
The Cheetos-in-chief would love to wield dictatorial power and has tried to do so in the past as have his predecessors (Obama, yeah, well, we had to torture some folks::Shrub you’re with us or against us.). Senator Chris Murphy essentially telling these companies who to kick off their platforms, the regimentation of society and the economy is continuing apace as companies are forced to comply with government demands that the government should never be able to make but they do for “national security reasons”
Pfui. As I’ve said before the US has become a fascistic police state.
Many other western countries, too. The only thing missing to “fit” fascism is the nationalism. They completely gave up their national identity for neoliberal agendas. I wont look for a new term, because its as close to fascism as anything else, especially since the definition of leftism and socialism has changed a lot since fascism was invented (by a socialist), so why shouldnt the definition of fascism a tiny bit?
But it exposes people who always cry “its not fascism” because nationalism is missing, as accomplices at the very least.
Also, as an objective person, you should at least admit, that “cheeto-in-chief” is actually trying hard to keep the promises he made. I havent seen that in a western leader in a very VERY long time. Its just very obvious that the president isnt almighty and the deep state is very powerful. Thanks to Trump its become evident to even fools, that the USA is much more corrupt than even any conspiracy theorist would have thought just a few years ago.
The idea that discordant speech is somehow a threat to the nation or democracy is so looney and bereft of fact that it is actually painful to contemplate how many otherwise intelligent persons seem to have internalized the notion. Obviously, Trump’s election victory severely damaged the Establishment’s confidence in the ability to “manufacture consent” to the degree that fundamental concepts of free speech are now in the cross-hairs. They will destroy the Republic in order to save it.
When the corporate state speaks of “hate speech” and “community standards” – one can be sure they are not referring to Madeline Albright’s stunning defense for killing of a half a million Iraqi children with sanctions as “worth it.” Nor would the corporate state ever categorize as “hate speech” the daily attack by a wide variety of U.S. officials and media pundits, not only on the Russian government, but on the very – “character” – of the Russian people as a whole.
Our actual and very real – “community standards” – in the U.S. include the complete normalization of illegal immoral endless aggressive war-making in violation of international law (not to mention regime change by jihadists, drone murders, economic warfare, political assassinations, etc.) – along with the despicable demonization of official enemies – in other words the total “normalization of hate-speech.”
“Violations” of these widely held U.S. “community standards” & “hate-speech standards” involves plain and simply any – “challenge” – to them or deviation from them. In other words to speak words not sufficiently ‘anti-Russian’ today is considered a form of “hate speech” in MSM and in political discourse. To suggest peace rather than war with Russia might be a good idea is to violate precious “community standards” which today tolerate only mindless fact-free warmongering in public discourse. You really can’t make this stuff up!
Excellent comments. So true.
We are heading towards some sort of dark ages, and at very fast pace.
Gary, pointing out the shameless and bald-faced hypocrisy as you did can sometimes shake the stupefaction from an open-minded reader. Sadly, though, arguments such as these just seem to bounce off the Russiagaters, having no effect. Conversely, these very same people couldn’t lavish enough praise on the peace prize winner Obama, whether he was bailing out the corrupt banks, letting the lobbyists craft Obamacare, trafficking arms through Benghazi, or droning some wedding party in the desert.
What do both of these examples have in common? Easy, the state media was able to control the narrative in each case, and these same hypnotized drones ate it up hook, line and sinker. This brings us right back to why internet-based censorship is the hot topic of the day, since it is the single most threat to complete state control over the public mind.
Well said. Obama is not gone yet. He is still out there selling his philosophy of promoting the Wall street and corrupt banks, and droning and killing the weak and innocents all over the world , for the right cause so to speak – spreading freedom and democracy. And liberals buy it. What a World we live in!
He, along with Clintons, is the main instigator of “Russia Gate”, which may lead the human life to extinction on Earth.
Dave
Yes, anything is permitted (by Washington) as long as it is in the name of “freedom and democracy.” So say the leaders of our exceptional country.
Damn straight, Maxwell.
Yes, anything is permitted (by Washington) as long as it is in the name of “freedom and democracy.” So say the leaders of our exceptional country.
??????????????????????????
They do this because they know their mainstream, plutocrat-friendly “centrist” views will never be censored.
Everyone else is on the chopping block, however.
Leftist sites have already had their views slashed by a manipulation of Google’s algorithms, and it won’t be long before movements like BDS and Antifa and skeptics of the establishment Syria and Russia narratives can be made to face mass de-platforming on the same exact pretext as Infowars.
—- compare that, if you’ve a clue, (not to obfuscate your subject), Caitlan Johnstone, with, not mere censorship, but the Protection of ‘Confidential’ information such as the Industrial Pharma INDUSTRY OF DEATH (shades -of -nazi-germany??? )via INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION and PRESCRIBING OF OPIOIDS as if Huxley’s “Soma” or/and a preview of ” The Chemical and Bacteriological Conditioning of the Embryo. – Practical Instructions for Beta Embryro-Store Workers /// as in government forced vaccinations along with Facebook enforced capitulation of any/all — Personal Sovereign Belief/s massively defaulting and bowing the knee and Becoming Persuaded and Trapped into inescapable Autocracy, by reason of Darwin-esk dissembling and a dis-informed election to Dissent Into The Maelstrom of the sinking ship of American Exceptionalism, — as if God could/would “forgive” all-of-the-collective Brutality of Bombs, bullets, Uranium Munitions / CRIPPLING Sanctions imposted — support of brutal dictators Who massacred INNOCENT Civilians in order to obtain/secure US MILITARY FUNDS, in order to secure autocratic/authoritative CONTROL …
We are engulfed in a Molding Faze of acceptance of/into a totally new Reality strangely built upon Nazi science/experiments, now Entering an/the Age of Space-Age manipulation of DNA, Gene Manipulation — origins of species ordered inside test tubes.
George Gilder prophetically saw this in this and more in his prescient 1990’s book, MICROCOSM. —
George Gilder and his Discovery Institute were far Ahead – of -the -curve in this ‘Facebook” era of Futurisms … .
Please find and consider his book, esp as it relates to technological possibilities and the New Wonders (Brave New Worlds) of Gene splicing / manipulation . …
Very well stated, Gary!
If the corporate+govt noose won’t do it the insanity generated through hypocrisy will.