Posted on 03/04/2017 4:09:43 PM PST by Brad from Tennessee
The New York Times has published an article from opinion columnist and academic Thomas B. Edsall blaming the Internet for the collapse of establishment authority.
Arguing that the Internet “threatens Democracy,” Edsall openly concedes that he believes the freedom unleashed by the Internet to be a threat to the establishment; to its norms and language codes
"As the forces of reaction outpace movements predicated on the ideal of progress, and as traditional norms of political competition are tossed aside, it’s clear that the internet and social media have succeeded in doing what many feared and some hoped they would. They have disrupted and destroyed institutional constraints on what can be said, when and where it can be said and who can say it."
This is a rare moment of honesty from a mainstream commentator: up until now, the panicked, clumsy attempts to roll back freedom of speech on the web have advanced in disguise. Campaigns to reintroduce the language codes in the anarchic realm of the web have been concealed behind seemingly neutral concerns about “online harassment,” “trolling,” and “abuse.” Edsall, by contrast, doesn’t obfuscate. He straightforwardly admits that it’s really free speech on the web that concerns him. Good for him. . .
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
If not ruled, definitely manipulated and overly influenced by the small number of news/propaganda outlets that controlled most all information available to the public.
Mick Cernovich pushed that #sickhillary to the mainstream!
I think they have the establishment class confused with the establishment clause.
Believe me, I’m in it when they’re in my plane sitting in the back rows. “Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re about to enter some rough turbulence” >snicker<
The Overlords get really upset when us uppity peasants quit listening to their hired talking heads.
We’ve reached an age when the People’s President speaks directly to his supporters — 140 characters at a time. And these media dinosaurs hate it.
Yes, the thought police have lost control of our minds. It is a terrible thing.
They are not even putting up much of a fight. I would happily read well thought-out, well-written, factually verified commentary on the issues of the day, you know, a la H.L. Mencken, or WF Buckley. Good writing is not the god-granted province of self-styled conservatives.
But, to write well you cannot be irrational [e.g. George Will who used to be a master until he went off the deep end], and thus the left is presently struggling. It's a shame, but there you have it.
How can you presume to control what others think when you cannot even control what you think, Mika?
The media’s gone limp and viagra does no good. Ha, ha!
They never controlled what I think...
“Democracy” means rule by the people. In the author’s mind, only the ruling class are the people.
“Yes, the thought police have lost control of our minds. It is a terrible thing.”
Well stated, sir knight.
But they thought they did. Deluded perhaps, but they were comfortable with it.
The freedom of expression in the corner of Hyde Park does pretty much the same thing without the internet.
Boo Hoo...
We had better listen to our “Betters”, or elae.
I think Lucille should have a little chat with Tommy Edsall...
Embrace the suck, Edsall.
Firearm possession by civilians gave us 5 generations of freedom from tyranny.
Internet bypass of the propagandist media will give us 50 generations.
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