Re 2020oilgamble I noticed that too. It just sparked my general frustration in the state of internet communication and social media on all platforms these days. Mainly that popular opinion is becoming the new " State " in a sense. People encouraging the most popular mainstream ideas have become a full on mob who are quick to hail censorship as the answer. For such a supposedly enlightened crowd, it's a very narrow minded way of thinking.
The advent of worldwide digital communication has had the bizzare effect of making people afraid to speak their mind. Fearing a widespread backlash of the everpresent dissaproving citizens of the internet. The more that independent thinking becomes unpopular, the more that the digital mob appears to grow in numbers and power. As people - of course - find it easier and more pleasant to fit in, rather than risk being shamed on a worldwide platform.
The consequences of continuing down the path that we are on is frightenening at best. We're witnessing the birth a new state. Not a brick and mortars one - or one with defined borders - but a worldwide digital conglomerate of people who have decided what is the only acceptable way -for a modern world citizen- to think. Supporters of this very extreme, yet very socially accepted realm, are becoming defacto agents of this same state. Not passive participants, but acting in an authoritarian way. Quick to expose and ridicule those who dare to use their platforms, without stepping in line with the required regimented beliefs.
Once this new state reaches critical mass, it will be too late to turn back. We stand to lose basic freedoms in this generation that we never dreamed possible. All in the name of modern progression. It's surreal to watch it play out before us. Definitely an interesting time to be alive.
There is still hope for the good who value freedom, and true love. Real love born from open communication and unhindered dialogue. Yet it takes an increasing amount of bravery as each day passes. However bravery can inspire. Nothing is more contgious than a truly free soul. From a spark comes a flame and a fire, and not all will be so quick to bow down to the new world wide digital agenda
“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.” George Orwell, 1984