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A comment on The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle forms of influence. Parent comment

Re:The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle fo... by abandonliberty on Thursday March 10, 2016 @02:09AM (#11257733)
Money buys speech.

I also used to fantasize about the democratization of speech via the internet. No longer would money determine what information reached you.

Adwords is no less ethical than search rankings, newspapers, TV, radio, literature, bus stops, music - reality, ultimately. Reality is for sale.

Good news: I agree that this is a problem. Bad news: It's incredibly more prevalent than you realize.

If communication of information isn't democratized, you can't have a democracy. It shouldn't be a surprise then that we don't have a democracy, but an oligarchy [1].

Mind you, this is just one of many factors that makes a true democracy impossible as they currently exist. [2]

1 http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-27074746

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle fo... by ArkyBeagle on Thursday March 10, 2016 @01:23PM (#11260938)
We want speech to be pure and abstract. So this relegates money to our expression of the venal.

Then we find this, and wonder why it bothers us.

You are ultimately responsible for your own perceptions.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle fo... by abandonliberty on Friday March 11, 2016 @03:01PM (#11269087)
>You are ultimately responsible for your own perceptions.

Would you consider a Muslim born and raised in the Maldives, where the state and populous are all Muslim and questioning the status quo can result in severe injury and incarceration, personally responsible for their views even though they are denied alternative perspectives?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_Maldives

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The New Mind Control – The internet has spawned subtle fo... by ArkyBeagle on Friday March 11, 2016 @06:27PM (#11270342)
Yes.
[ Parent | on HN ]