my thesis was on “rapid cultural transformation” — which I might’ve mentioned before. apologies, if so. my committee hated it except for the anthropology prof who got was i was trying to do (“creative thesis”).
I believe in free speech. I belong to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and still to this day support the decision to grant Nazis the right to march in Skokie, Illinois. (Sadly, the current iteration of the ACLU probably would not.)
So like Taibbi, I am a free speech absolutist.
To label "Naked Capitalism" (NC) as a purveyor of misinformation especially in regards to the topic of COVID is an outrage. Yves Smith and Lambert Strether articulate daily the dangers of this pandemic and make their readers fully aware that the risk of infection is not over. The site further validates their views with articles and comments from experts in epidemiology, immunology, virology and currently practicing physicians.
To read the comments on Substack that accompany Taibbi's article can help one understand the nuance of my views that follow.
Some commentators think that NC belongs on Substack. Well, Smith and Strether both say, "if your business depends upon a platform, you do not have a business."
A lot of commentators view NC's stance on COVID as unfounded hysteria. Sadly, COVID "experts" that Taibbi defends as victims of shadow banning would fall in line with those views. Taibbi openly questions the efficacy of masks and the concept of lockdowns to quelch this pandemic. (We had a pathetic attempt at a lockdown which was implemented too late, with too little income support, was too limited in scope and too short in duration.)
What should happen for all matters public is open discourse. The government has the ability to state views. It should not have the ability to quash speech nor the inclination to order intermediaries to do the same. This inclination to direct discourse to a proscribed viewpoint is in my mind the driving force for divesting TikTok of its current owners.
This exchange of views is the foundation of a society's immunity to bullshit. Deep sixing views for not adhering to "the science" is a shameful tactic that will eventually boomerang. NC does publish science, not wishful thinking.
Just got suspended for 12 hours from Twitter for posting (and being mandated to remove) a tweet that humorously suggested that it was time to kill the rich and take all our money back.
Huge improvement under Musk. Under the old regime I was banished for over a year for linking to The Saker.
At this rate Americans may be allowed to once again have opinions some day. Not right away, but eventually. For sure.
Right after Russia moved into the Donbass the censors were heightened.
The one thing I will say for Musk is that he let me back in without a phone number. My banishment persisted because the reentry algo demanded a ph#. That's gone now, replaced by nonintuitive very strange captchas that I think are messing with my subconscious which probably means it's time for a new tinfoil implant.
My earlier banishment didn't officially become banishment until I filed about my sixth monthly appeal in which I (at length) discussed the pedophilic tendencies of the FBI agents monitoring my account. I saved a screenshot, I'm rather proud of it. I'd like to think that somewhere in the chain I made someone laugh.
this sort of thing always precedes collapse of a whole social system.
Collapses are linear till their not, Brook. I worry about that too.
Thomas
my thesis was on “rapid cultural transformation” — which I might’ve mentioned before. apologies, if so. my committee hated it except for the anthropology prof who got was i was trying to do (“creative thesis”).
you know what’s funny is that we’re living thru rapid transformation right now, in many ways.
Feel free to expand on your comment, Brook. We'd love to know more.
Thomas
I believe in free speech. I belong to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and still to this day support the decision to grant Nazis the right to march in Skokie, Illinois. (Sadly, the current iteration of the ACLU probably would not.)
So like Taibbi, I am a free speech absolutist.
To label "Naked Capitalism" (NC) as a purveyor of misinformation especially in regards to the topic of COVID is an outrage. Yves Smith and Lambert Strether articulate daily the dangers of this pandemic and make their readers fully aware that the risk of infection is not over. The site further validates their views with articles and comments from experts in epidemiology, immunology, virology and currently practicing physicians.
To read the comments on Substack that accompany Taibbi's article can help one understand the nuance of my views that follow.
Some commentators think that NC belongs on Substack. Well, Smith and Strether both say, "if your business depends upon a platform, you do not have a business."
A lot of commentators view NC's stance on COVID as unfounded hysteria. Sadly, COVID "experts" that Taibbi defends as victims of shadow banning would fall in line with those views. Taibbi openly questions the efficacy of masks and the concept of lockdowns to quelch this pandemic. (We had a pathetic attempt at a lockdown which was implemented too late, with too little income support, was too limited in scope and too short in duration.)
What should happen for all matters public is open discourse. The government has the ability to state views. It should not have the ability to quash speech nor the inclination to order intermediaries to do the same. This inclination to direct discourse to a proscribed viewpoint is in my mind the driving force for divesting TikTok of its current owners.
This exchange of views is the foundation of a society's immunity to bullshit. Deep sixing views for not adhering to "the science" is a shameful tactic that will eventually boomerang. NC does publish science, not wishful thinking.
Just got suspended for 12 hours from Twitter for posting (and being mandated to remove) a tweet that humorously suggested that it was time to kill the rich and take all our money back.
Huge improvement under Musk. Under the old regime I was banished for over a year for linking to The Saker.
At this rate Americans may be allowed to once again have opinions some day. Not right away, but eventually. For sure.
The Saker? How is that dangerous?
Thomas
Right after Russia moved into the Donbass the censors were heightened.
The one thing I will say for Musk is that he let me back in without a phone number. My banishment persisted because the reentry algo demanded a ph#. That's gone now, replaced by nonintuitive very strange captchas that I think are messing with my subconscious which probably means it's time for a new tinfoil implant.
My earlier banishment didn't officially become banishment until I filed about my sixth monthly appeal in which I (at length) discussed the pedophilic tendencies of the FBI agents monitoring my account. I saved a screenshot, I'm rather proud of it. I'd like to think that somewhere in the chain I made someone laugh.