This is a really great video, and i agree with pretty much all of it. I especially like the honesty of Hedges in holding both the media and the Democrats accountable for failing to take Trump to task from the very beginning - they benefited just as much from Trump being an outrageous public figure as the Republicans did! They all milked him as long as they could for their own money and power. If Trump had been replaced with Pence early on, the Democratic nominee could've had a much harder job of winning in 2020. Politics is so cynical
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" big tech shouldn't get to decide what speech is and isn't acceptable,"
I gotta ask this, since they ARE private companies, why do you think they can't decide what they want on their platforms? In some aspects, the decision to chop off Trump is a business decision, as they face other people pulling their money because they (the companies that buy advertising) do not wish to be associated with pricks like Trump n' Co.
It's not really about free speech to them, but about advertising money (in my opinion.)
Good question. This is sort of the libertarian argument - why shouldn't a company get to decide who they want to serve? A left-wing counterpoint might be: if a company's platform has gotten so big that it legitimately can be seen as a sort of public square, shouldn't speech on that square be protected
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Burn em all! Let us send smoke signals to each other or flashes of light via shards of mirrors!
I’d agree Facebook is so pervasive it’s destroyed common sense and critical thinking. BTW, did you know “libruls h8 America!” and that Dr. Fauci was appointed by the Deep STate who had a time machine to place Fauci while under another Republican POTUS just tosow doubt against the Orange God-Emperor?
You know that story I told about the teenager from the DRC who lived for 6 years in a refugee camp and was placed in the U.S.? He FOUND HIS PARENTS and family again through **FACEBOOK** once he got to the U.S.! That... is how fucking pervasive bookface is
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The issue with Facebook having so much power globally is another really interesting one. I do think they do a reasonable job at creating local "bubbles" of content moderation, but this is still a piece of communications technology that was built with Ivy League or Silicon Valley values that is now used worldwide. Would some of the decisions about how it works have been different if Europeans had designed it for Europe or Africans had designed it for Africa, or even just if people in another parts of America designed it for their own communities?
I really think America needs better laws around political campaigns. I don't know of any other country in the world where campaigns can stretch on for months or years, and where so much money gets pumped into it. In most other countries the length of campaigning is limited, the amount (and type) of advertizing is limited... And politics ends up being much less of a spectator sport as a result.
For years there has been a push to go back to a regulated form of political campaigns. Ie: that there is a minute tax that all Americans pay... and then that money raised is divided equally among the candidates running for major federal offices and so candidates don't have to spend time fundraising or be corrupted by the process. The two major parties HATE that idea. The minor parties... are all for it. FOR SOME REASON.
America has very weird rules... about most things. Really... we are so infatuated with money and profit, almost anything have to do with it is legal. When I learned that in the EU that you cannot say, "find us on twitter and facebook"... but instead "find us on social media" it was a huge lightbulb moment because of COURSE mentioning the companies by name IS AN ADVERTISEMENT. Especially when a major news source or celebrity does it. Also.. where medications and medical treatments cannot be advertised. Its ludicrous its allowed.
Also thinking about how Glenn Greenwald had to leave The Intercept, (which he helped found) because they wouldn't print his Hunter Biden piece because they were not willing to damage the Democratic party.
The two party system is.... at least not a one-party system. That is... if you forget that the two-party system is actually a false dichotomy which work together to control American politics and ensure no other party can form or gain power.
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I gotta ask this, since they ARE private companies, why do you think they can't decide what they want on their platforms? In some aspects, the decision to chop off Trump is a business decision, as they face other people pulling their money because they (the companies that buy advertising) do not wish to be associated with pricks like Trump n' Co.
It's not really about free speech to them, but about advertising money (in my opinion.)
Reply
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I’d agree Facebook is so pervasive it’s destroyed common sense and critical thinking. BTW, did you know “libruls h8 America!” and that Dr. Fauci was appointed by the Deep STate who had a time machine to place Fauci while under another Republican POTUS just tosow doubt against the Orange God-Emperor?
Reply
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I really think America needs better laws around political campaigns. I don't know of any other country in the world where campaigns can stretch on for months or years, and where so much money gets pumped into it. In most other countries the length of campaigning is limited, the amount (and type) of advertizing is limited... And politics ends up being much less of a spectator sport as a result.
Reply
America has very weird rules... about most things. Really... we are so infatuated with money and profit, almost anything have to do with it is legal. When I learned that in the EU that you cannot say, "find us on twitter and facebook"... but instead "find us on social media" it was a huge lightbulb moment because of COURSE mentioning the companies by name IS AN ADVERTISEMENT. Especially when a major news source or celebrity does it. Also.. where medications and medical treatments cannot be advertised. Its ludicrous its allowed.
Reply
The two party system is.... at least not a one-party system. That is... if you forget that the two-party system is actually a false dichotomy which work together to control American politics and ensure no other party can form or gain power.
Reply
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