“Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are basically monopolies. They are the new public square. Outside of those three, there are few other options. I would argue that concentrating so much power into the hands of so few corporate entities and so few billionaire oligarchs like Mark Zuckerberg is a far bigger danger than my snarky Facebook posts or my video rants about modern art and brutalist architecture.” – Paul Joseph Watson, in a May, 2019 interview. (He is still making quite pointed videos.)
The Editors’ Quote of the Day:
> concentrating so much power into the hands of so few corporate entities
> and so few billionaire oligarchs like Mark Zuckerberg is a far bigger danger
In 1990, Capitalism defeated Communism. By 2010, it had also defeated Democracy and Free Markets.
One of the first things the Republican congress did after Donald Trump was inaugurated in 2017 was to make it legal for internet service providers (ISP) to sell their customers’ internet history to third parties.
By the end of 2017 – two years ago – conservatives had a collective orgasm when Net Neutrality rules were repealed. The National Rifle Association even went out of its lane to give telecom lobbyist and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai the Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award. Which is ironic, because without Net Neutrality rules, ISPs are free to censor sites like nra.org and survivalblog.com .
Now conservatives – however you want to define that term – who have long celebrated extreme economic inequality, money in politics, and corporate power, are whining about being silenced by the Invisible Fist of the Free Market Fairy. Many are even calling for government regulation.
I absolutely agree that the tech companies have become too powerful and are a threat to the Republic. But it’s what conservatives have always wanted. They’re just sore because the Silicon Valley oligarchs lean Left instead of Right.
Perhaps conservatives should heed Ayn Rands advice: “Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” Because not every threat to liberty is backed by a government gun.