Comically, we've been thinking that future U.S. presidents will answer to the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook and Google. Out of the blue comes a feature in the New York Times.
It begins with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and others making cool sites that connect billions of people to friends and endless global information. It ends with Silicon Valley disrupting our democracy. Really?
Facebook allowed Russians to mess with our 2016 election disinformation. Google played a similar role. Don't they know, we don't need anyone to help us smear each other?
Amazon, with online monopoly, now invades offline commerce - Whole Foods. We users, with the world at our finger tips, joyfully follow along.
Google was born to "organize the world's information, making it accessible and useful." Facebook promised to "give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together." Mark, maybe first we should learn to get "closer together" with our neighbors. Smirk! By the way, thanks for letting us post our blog on Facebook.
Amazon's Jeff Bezos, now the world's wealthiest man, introduced "the most customer-obsessed company to ever occupy planet Earth." Who in all history even dreamed of such power?
So, we just deal with inconvenient worms, viruses and trackers.
The Times asks, "...do we have regulatory tools and social cohesion to restrain the monopolists?"
At first, these programmer/entrepreneurs were indifferent to getting rich on their ideas. Eventually, Zuckerberg gave in to Silicon Valley venture capital. He and other founders understood that investors hadn't signed on for charity.
Tomorrow: Advertisers take charge
Quote of the Day
Oppression doesn't come from a conspiracy of whiteness.
It is the default mode of anyone in power. - unknown
Jimmy
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