I see the internet as a double-edged sword, since most people are shockingly unable to separate truth from lie. I am not an optimist, as I work with plenty of tech savvy young folks who are as dumb as stumps re common sense. Bob
I completely agree - but I would rather have a free exchange of ideas rather than having gatekeepers. Gatekeepers often have agendas, and those agendas can run counter to the truth - as we clearly see with the mainstream media.
We’re a country founded on raucous debate - you should see what early newspapers accused people of - all sorts of lies and tin foil madness. A free society can handle this. It toughens us up and make us properly skeptical and not scared and thin skinned.
This is also why I am against having a strong Presidency (so were the founders) - we may like it when our guy has the power. But our guy won’t always be there, and the insane power we so willing give to ‘our’ President will soon enough be used against us by the next President - the one who we despise. Better to defang these concentrations of power before it can be used against us.
The same goes for the media. I don’t want to see any concentration of power in control of news or the internet. Again, centralization of power is the most dangerous thing there is and has been use by all manner of tyrants (communists, socialists and nazis) to cause all sorts of evil. Also, the tyrant always believes he is doing the best for all mankind.
As for dumb kids, eventually the truth will win out in most of them - given a free exchange of ideas - which is the best we can hope for!