I am posting less these days, likely because I am losing faith in the possibility of positive change. I realize now, more than ever, that our fate is not in our hands, but rather in those of the powerful that have captured government and will protect and enhance their profits until the bitter end.
While this fact is most evidenced by the refusal of national governments to enact measures to meaningfully combat the ever-growing peril of climate change (disaster capitalism is alive, well and thriving!), it is also seen in less obvious ways. To get a taste of this truth, watch the following interview with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, conducted by Lester Holt. The interview initially revolves around Twitter's suspension (cutely called a 'time-out' by Dorsey) of hate-monger Alex Jones. The suspension itself, of course, is hardly a brave or principled stand, given Jones' removal from other social-media platforms already.
Dorsey's moral vacuity, bottomless hypocrisy and capacity for spin are pretty obvious here. And the fact that the CEO, a stand-in for so many other 'movers and shakers', will not let the public good interfere with his ceaseless march for greater and greater profits becomes very clear in the second part of the interview, when Holt asks him about Donald Trump and his Twitter account.
The titans of social media - Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Bezos thought it was theirs to manipulate and they wasted no time doing just that. No one looked too closely at the damage they were causing until they could no longer look away. And, when they were caught out, these characters made a grand display of doing the very least necessary.
ReplyDeleteGovernance has been similarly compromised with elected officials often serving the private interest at the direct and lasting expense of the public interest.
When you think of climate change,the greatest threat already impacting Canada and our people, you might imagine it would be our government's unrivaled priority. It's anything but. Trudeau isn't honest enough to say it but where he sees environmentalism clash with our economy, particularly the petro-economy, climate change is at best a secondary consideration if not outright irrelevant. Trudeau's contention that we can have it both ways is a disgraceful sham.
I'm hoping support will finally grow for the Greens, enough that they can force electoral reform to a referendum. Without it we'll never get out from under the Tories or the Liberals.
The situation is grim indeed, Mound, and I can no longer imagine a time when government will do the job it is supposed to do, represent the interests of all the people, not a select few.
DeleteI sensed a decided lack of conviction in Dorsey's 'performance' during the interview, Jay. It would appear you have his number.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of profiles of the rich and famous these days, Lorne. I don't see any profiles in courage. In fact, there seems to be an inverse relationship between money and courage.
ReplyDeleteI think you are perceiving today's reality, Owen.
DeleteDorsey, like most others pursuing the "American Dream" is willfully asleep and chooses to be morally bankrupt (play here on the pursuit of wealth). Here is an example of an alert and awake politician sharing his pride of hatred and spreading his manure with gusto.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/politics/senator-shocks-cnn-anchor-with-take-on-trumps-possible-use-of-slur/ar-BBM5Tlf?ocid=spartandhp
Thank you Lorne, keep up the good work.
Thanks for the link, Domenic. Its depiction 0f yet another slimy public figure defending the indefensible is emblematic of the moral/spiritual crisis that engulfs the U.S. today.
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