by John Ward
Two of the features of online debate I discovered pretty much from the get-go fifteen years ago are that, first, blinkered Smuggies and Fluffies react to every complaint as “a rant”; and second, they are congenitally incapable of connecting a complaint about corporate commercial behaviour with the increasingly obvious rise of the corporate State.
The syndrome is in itself a reflection of the fact that Smuggies applaud the idea of the State keeping the lower orders in their place, and the ideological green>red>pink>black Fluffies give three cheers for the State forcing “ignorant misguided” people to be free “despite themselves”. Take even a cursory look at the bizarre cultural coalition out to rule the Planet today, and my observation (not entirely original) explains why the “Front” works: the commonality is a detestation of everything individual, natural, creative, entrepreneurial and curious.
To complain is to challenge, perchance to shame.
I wasted almost my entire morning today fending off the greedy and culturally cancerous dishonesty, fascist monopolism, mental dysfunction and fakery involved in trying to effect one simple objective: the opening of a file in order to read its content.
Because the internet is now a Wild West of unlawful disorder, there are very few agreed protocols and formats. Ask to download a universal file opener, and you’ll evoke a torrent of cess in the shape of lies (“free”), forced choice (Microsoft), cunningly disguised attempts to get useless crap into your filing system (“Start download here”), incompetence (“we’ve sent a link to your email address”), more forced choice (“browse here”) and counter-intuitive conclusion (“file not found”).
You will be amused – who wouldn’t be? – to learn that the sum outcome of this wasted 145 minute quest was an inability to open a file whose sole raison d’etre was to open other files that steadfastly refused to open without the assistance of the unopenable file opener.
The acceptance of this mendacious ineptitude by most internet users was the forerunner of those same denialists now cowering before arrogant élites pushing ever harder to control the few remaining hapless thinking individuals among our number.
Zero complaint is taken by all hegemonists – neocons, bankers, global Pharma, bureaucrats, and ideological goblins – as a signal of compliance.
Covid19 was merely their chosen form of Trojan Horse. Zero compliance with their increasingly daft rationales is the only way to send the opposite signal.
Here is a refresher course in how to do it peacefully
Here is a terrific piece of thorough decontruction from Sharyl Attkinsson
Here is an inspiring roadmap from Kevin Smith at Off-Guardian
One final thought to rope this argument together: do you see any sign of our “legislators” showing the remotest sign of reining in corporacratic internet behaviour? I suggest you do not.
Do you see many signs of politicians trying to sabotage our resistance to censorious corporatism online? I submit that you do.
Clinton and Obama begat Biden. Blair and Cameron begat Boris.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.