Internet Speech Will Never Go Back to Normal In the debate over freedom versus control of the global network, China was largely correct, and the U.S. was wrong.

While the song ends with defeat....

The REAL result was victory for their music and their voice. We will not be controlled.

For what it's worth, Neil (RIP) DID answer the question to "who won?" was answered by The Professor at 26:40 in the video Classic Albums: Rush 2112 and Moving Pictures

It's an awesome video to watch.

BTW, I still insist that while it didn't do well at the time (and I didn't discover Rush until after "2112" came out so I missed that tour,) "Caress of Steel" is one of their better albums, certainly in the top 5 (IMHO.)

I saw Rush live more times than any other band, so many that I lost count. My very first rock concert was their "A Farewell to Kings" tour, I saw them live 3 times on their "Permanent Waves" tour, I attended the R-40 concert in Kansas City, and at least another 12 or 13 times over the years. Sadly, I never saw "Max Webster" open for them. :-(

Mark

Insanity; "society’s norms and values" often means allowing profanity and vulgarity and invectives against conservatives (esp. Christian ones) while censoring politically incorrect speech. Including reports that challenge the Covid-19 and Climate Change hysteria, and or oppose the homosexual agenda.

In the great debate of the past two decades about freedom versus control of the network, China was largely right and the United States was largely wrong. Significant monitoring and speech control are inevitable components of a mature and flourishing internet, and governments must play a large role in these practices to ensure that the internet is compatible with a society’s norms and values.

We live—and for several years, we have been living—in a world of serious and growing harms resulting from digital speech. Governments will not stop worrying about these harms. And private platforms will continue to expand their definition of offensive content, and will use algorithms to regulate it ever more closely. The general trend toward more speech control will not abate....

As Google and Apple effectively turn most phones in the world into contact-tracing tools, they have the ability to accomplish something that no government by itself could: nearly perfect location tracking of most the world’s population. That is why governments in the United States and around the world are working to take advantage of the tool the two companies are offering.

Thanks for that link (for later). Caress of Steel is one of my favorites. I miss those guys.

No kidding, I really miss them too. Given all the heartache that Neil went through, I hope that his cancer diagnosis wasn't the reason for him to put away his sticks.

I sincerely hope that he was able to spend most of his last few years happy and free of cancer, with his family and friends.

He was always a private person, and I'm thankful that he was able to surround himself with friends who were able to keep his health status private. The fact that his death from cancer was a complete surprise to the world says so much about his friends.

Mark

IIRC, Neil found out about the cancer just a few months after the last concert. On some website it had one of his last photos - on a hike on some island off the coast of California just a little while before he died. He looked very happy. And yes - what a testament to him and the people he surrounded himself with to keep it private.

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