Capitalism has neutered our ability to speak freely about the most important, most painful truths in our society.
The platforms that most people spend most of their conscious thought-power have told our children and adults alike that things like rape, suicide, murder and nazism are so distant from us, so “unreal” that we don’t even have words for them anymore.
This isn’t a small thing. Language has massive power in our minds to reshape our world. We use language to abstractify complicated ideas and learn how to examine them from different perspectives. Language is how we built a world a wonders and miracles, but we’re being conditioned every day to stop using language. Don’t read, scroll. Don’t debate, retreat to safe spaces. Don’t say bad words, someone might feel bad if you say “rape.” As if people aren’t currently being raped right now. I wonder how they feel about the word.
But did you knoooowwww, that nearly a quarter of US adults are functionally illiterate? Meaning, they can answer texts, they can read street signs and a grocery list, but are almost incapable of stringing together a whole paragraph? This isn’t a small problem, it’s why the west is falling, it’s why we have nazis marching again. I mean… why we have “armband baddies” marching, or whatever the sanitized term is.
Because platforms cater to advertisers who cater to the broadest possible audience. Meaning they don’t take stances on any issues, they just use the broadest, safest possible forms of language and principles.
If you take any kind of active stance about anything there are going to be “ridiculous puritans” somewhere, in some context who are going to be offended. And once you decide that you’re going to piss off some group of people, you have to then apply your principles consistently or you’re going to make even more public backlash and controversy.
Platforms that are courting advertisers are going to try to make their platform as universally uncontroversial as possible rather than invite brands in who have to either align with the existing values of the platform or invite brands in who will have to then take a stance in any capacity.
As a result, we have the largest gathering places for people’s minds, completely disconnected from reality by presenting people a neutered, safe version of the world without any possible way for people to see something that bothers them, because it’s far easier to sell products when people are thinking about the product, not your company’s stance on something. This is what’s turned our social media and the internet broadly into a marketing tool. This is why the internet is dead. This is why kids don’t even say the word “dead” anymore because they’re used to abiding by the brand’s safe version of reality.
This censorship in particular is coming from China’s overbearing government. Remove that element and capitalism is fine leaving things uncensored. Remove the religious right from America and there’d be less censorship elsewhere.
They don’t censor as much in the UK, for example. Would you say China is more capitalist than the UK?
Capitalism has neutered our ability to speak freely about the most important, most painful truths in our society.
The platforms that most people spend most of their conscious thought-power have told our children and adults alike that things like rape, suicide, murder and nazism are so distant from us, so “unreal” that we don’t even have words for them anymore.
This isn’t a small thing. Language has massive power in our minds to reshape our world. We use language to abstractify complicated ideas and learn how to examine them from different perspectives. Language is how we built a world a wonders and miracles, but we’re being conditioned every day to stop using language. Don’t read, scroll. Don’t debate, retreat to safe spaces. Don’t say bad words, someone might feel bad if you say “rape.” As if people aren’t currently being raped right now. I wonder how they feel about the word.
But did you knoooowwww, that nearly a quarter of US adults are functionally illiterate? Meaning, they can answer texts, they can read street signs and a grocery list, but are almost incapable of stringing together a whole paragraph? This isn’t a small problem, it’s why the west is falling, it’s why we have nazis marching again. I mean… why we have “armband baddies” marching, or whatever the sanitized term is.
How is that capitalism’s fault, and not the fault of the ridiculous puritans the censorship is trying to cater to?
Because platforms cater to advertisers who cater to the broadest possible audience. Meaning they don’t take stances on any issues, they just use the broadest, safest possible forms of language and principles.
If you take any kind of active stance about anything there are going to be “ridiculous puritans” somewhere, in some context who are going to be offended. And once you decide that you’re going to piss off some group of people, you have to then apply your principles consistently or you’re going to make even more public backlash and controversy.
Platforms that are courting advertisers are going to try to make their platform as universally uncontroversial as possible rather than invite brands in who have to either align with the existing values of the platform or invite brands in who will have to then take a stance in any capacity.
As a result, we have the largest gathering places for people’s minds, completely disconnected from reality by presenting people a neutered, safe version of the world without any possible way for people to see something that bothers them, because it’s far easier to sell products when people are thinking about the product, not your company’s stance on something. This is what’s turned our social media and the internet broadly into a marketing tool. This is why the internet is dead. This is why kids don’t even say the word “dead” anymore because they’re used to abiding by the brand’s safe version of reality.
I mean, is this really hard to understand?
Yeah, because you’re overcomplicating it.
This censorship in particular is coming from China’s overbearing government. Remove that element and capitalism is fine leaving things uncensored. Remove the religious right from America and there’d be less censorship elsewhere.
They don’t censor as much in the UK, for example. Would you say China is more capitalist than the UK?
Oh so it all hinges on ethnic cleansing then? I love rando internet takes. Fuck off, I don’t care about your points, you’re in some fantasy world.
That’s obviously not what I meant, but you just go ahead and keep being you.