Technologies of social Control
Once the Soviet Union collapsed they moved on to technologies of social control
LINKS DOWN BELOW
A friend of mind noticed people are radicalized on YouTube and organized on social media. Creepy! What happening? We all have cars but do we know how they work? We use them everyday but I can’t tell you how the combustion engine works.
We have cell phones in our hand that we're using like 6 hours a day but we don't know how it works exactly. Who decides what information we see, what people we should empathize with.
Technologies like social media and YouTube platforms, how these algorithms work? It's complex. Social media is free for you to use for a reason, you are the product! It’s cultural weapon reversing all the social progress we made in the last 6 decades. It can send a emotionally valnerable person in weaponized psychosis.
“Facebook is no longer just a company, I told them. It’s a doorway into the minds of the American people, and Mark Zuckerberg left that door wide open for Cambridge Analytica, the Russians, and who knows how many others. Facebook is a monopoly, but its behavior is more than a regulatory issue—it’s a threat to national security. The concentration of power that Facebook enjoys is a danger to American democracy.”
― Christopher Wylie, Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America
Billionaires like Mark Zuck and Peter Thiel have moved to New Zealand and Hawaii which could be seen as a safe haven in case of global crises.
Another massive shift was when corporations got person-hood. When they got free speech rights and these Free speech rights allowed them to influence public opinion and non-profits.
Behavioral futures markets are a new kind of marketplace for behavioral predictions. Behavioral surplus is raw data that is scraped or extracted from human experience and fed into various manufacturing processes.
Over the past two decades, an entirely new economic model has emerged, seemingly right under our noses. Whereas the internet and digital technology once promised to liberate humanity through determination and shared connections, they have now been turned into behavioral manipulation and exploitation tools. For instance, our small business Data—like client lists and sexual behavior—is now commodified.
Using any digital platform without paying (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) is not free. Platforms monetize and sell your interests, opinions, cultural values, personal identity, and (even) feelings about sex work. In this case—whoever can afford to will control public opinion. Algorithms create models about your body, history, culture, and identity. In turn, people receive media tailored to them. There are even markers for “gullibility.”
Anybody with enough resources can run advocacy groups for their best interest. For example, right-wing media will claim racial segregation is a good thing. Or that workers should not own their labor. That women shouldn't want or deserve to decide what clients they should have. These agendas are put in front of people on all platforms without consent (or even awareness) from the individual. How much of what we believe is manufactured? Massachusetts residents should decide Massachusetts laws, not overseas billionaires, gangsters, or space aliens, but by the people of Massachusetts. Globalization plays a big role here.
The Predatory capitalists and private monopolies are hidden in plain sight, taking over women's and families’ economic resources. When a company, person, or state has complete control over something, it becomes difficult or impossible for individuals to compete, like elephants under ants. Private monopolies can be created when a company tries to force out competitors or prevent new ones from entering the market to dominate it. A private monopoly aims to maximize profits by eliminating competition and lowering output. When a company has complete control over a product or service, it can charge any price it wants, and consumers who can't or won't pay that price cannot get the product—taking from Women, children, and families, poor and working-class people.
Instagram Addiction Causing Depression, Anxiety?
Our first story pertains to Instagram users who feel the social media platform harmed their mental health and explains why they may be able to take legal action. From there, attorneys are investigating a possible defect in certain Chevy and GMC vehicles. https://www.classaction.org/newsletter/issue-322
Myanmar: Facebook’s systems promoted violence against Rohingya; Meta owes reparations https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/myanmar-facebooks-systems-promoted-violence-against-rohingya-meta-owes-reparations-new-report/
Age of Surveillance Capitalism: “We Thought We Were Searching Google, But Google Was Searching Us” https://youtu.be/Vo6K-bPh39M?si=h1UDCbpWjhjffqx5
What Is Surveillance Capitalism? | Shoshana Zuboff https://youtu.be/fwNYjshqZ10?si=WANe-pIr1rpp9pc8
The Social Dilemma | Official Trailer | Netflix https://youtu.be/uaaC57tcci0?si=aU_fekez_G0aElFh
Fmr. Facebook Exec: Social Media Ripping Apart Society, “You are programmed." [Chamath Palihapitiya] https://youtu.be/d6e1riShmak?si=rJHHx2JrfTfZMOrP
Cambridge Analytica whistleblower: 'We spent $1m harvesting millions of Facebook profiles' https://youtu.be/FXdYSQ6nu-M?si=IU5vEn_6Wvk1msFM
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future ( Book Summary 101 ) https://youtu.be/vJBh1fbuLGw?si=ITeLmcEAR93Qwtug
"Corporations Are Not People": Activists Push Amendment to Revoke "Corporate Personhood" https://youtu.be/w8GlJC2cyxI?si=tQp6Cw3JYA5b1L6r