Sunday, May 17, 2020

WHO WATCHES THE WATHCERS?


Who watches the watchers?
This expression was meant by Dr. Sues to be satirical; however, the current situation is one in which reality is stranger than fiction. The corporate heads of social media have an obvious bias and political agenda, and anything that questions that agenda is quickly removed from their platforms.

The most fundamental aspect of any "Free" society is the ability of citizens to express themselves freely, without the fear of official reprisal or condemnation. The United States was founded on the belief that the autocratic kings and nobles that lead European governments, limited society's ability to reach its fullest potential in the areas of scientific exploration, commerce, and societal evolution that occurs with the free exchange of ideas. The Constitution, and the various Amendments to it, being the highest law of the nation, are based on the principle that government should be limited in it's ability to interfere with people's lives.  It is an unfortunate reality that Americans have forgotten the ugly side of history that lead to the American Revolution, and even more worrisome is that many Americans do not understand or appreciate the unique Freedoms granted by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. 
Today we live in an environment in which reality has become a subjective factor, with the truth being hidden by those with personal political agendas. Many topics are not open for public discussion, and many long held beliefs (religious and otherwise) have been unjustly attacked as evil or hateful by a well organized and tightly controlled mainstream media. Gone are the days when the public openly questioned results published by the Congressional committee investigating the John Kennedy assassination. Gone are the days when a scientist could successfully publish highly controversial material, such as that of Charles Darwin or Galileo. Today all academic research must fall within certain rigid parameters of acceptable topics of study, and all findings of such research must abide by the insidious rules of political correctness. 

The masters of social media, having been threatened by Congress, have clamped down on the sharing of any article that does not meet certain very subjective criteria. Anyone that questions the status quo must do so with very carefully selected language, or such a person is quickly banned. The newest phenomenon in thought control is Facebook's use of "expert" fact checkers to scrutinize articles shared by users. Who are these experts? Who selected them? Why are Facebook users, and article publishers, not permitted to respond to these so called experts? 
Social media is here to stay, billions of people use sites such as Facebook and YouTube on a daily basis. Obviously some censorship is required in order to keep certain material, such as pornography or depictions of gruesome violence, out of view of innocent users. However, these platforms should not be engaged in thought control, nor should they limit the free exchange of ideas. I fear social media is becoming a new method for power hungry politicians to place an ever expanding yoke on the public. 


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