January 2021 – MASTER OF NONE

Social Media Needs a Hard Reset

Do you remember that old chestnut, ‘Opinions are like assholes, everyone on social media is an asshole.‘?

Big Tech just permanently removed one of the biggest assholes off of all their social media platforms recently with a coordinated move to de-platform the President of the United States a few days before the end of his term in office. Not content with those actions, there seems to be a move to permanently erase President Donald Trump’s entire existence such as wiping his cameo in ‘Home Alone 2‘. Former aides and advisors are jumping ship faster than rats for fear of permanent blacklisting. Major corporations such as Forbes have outright declared that anyone who worked in the administration are persona non grata. People in news organizations are even comfortable with floating the idea of ‘re-education camps’ for the children of Trump supporters so they can be reprogramed after four years of his Presidency.

Congratulations all you Donald Trump haters, you are emulating the tactics of one of the worst human monsters in all of history.

Getting back to my opening postulate, there are endless examples of double standard assholery from the ‘other side’ but the main thrust of this essay is not the macro scale of the issue but to explore what kind of mechanisms could be explored in order to reign in the general preponderance of assholery present throughout social media.

The unfettered democratization of the World Wide Web has been both an incredible boon and unmitigated curse for mankind. Billions of voices now have the chance to scream to be heard. The planet has not seen this type of democratization since the concept of universal suffrage was implemented. But, just because we are afforded the chance to access and comment on literally every topic, should we have the right to do so without any limits whatsoever?

General suffrage, or the right for all adults to have the vote, was not a popular idea at first. An American historian, Francis Parkman, wrote a long essay published in 1878 entitled ‘The Failure of Universal Suffrage‘, arguing that the great masses of the population should not be allowed to vote.

An excerpt:

When a man has not sense to comprehend the questions at issue, know a bad candidate from a good one, or see his own true interests? When he cares not a farthing for the general good, and will sell his vote for a dollar? When, by a native instinct, he throws up his cap at the claptrap declamation of some lying knave, and turns with indifference or dislike from the voice of honesty and reason? Then his vote becomes a public pest. Somebody uses him, and profits by him. Probably it is a demagogue, possibly a priest, or possibly both. In any case, it is folly to call him a free agent. His inalienable right may perhaps be valuable to him for the bribe he gets out of it; but it makes him a nuisance and a danger to the state. It causes pulpit, platform, and press, to condone his vices, and debauch the moral sense of the people by discovering objects of sympathy in vagabonds, thieves, and ruffians. It gives power to the communistic attack on property, and makes it difficult to deal with outbreaks of brutal violence against which even humanity itself demands measures of the most stern and exemplary repression.
Francis Parkman – ‘The Failure of Universal Suffrage‘ – The North American Review, Jul. – Aug., 1878, Vol. 127, No. 263 (Jul. – Aug., 1878), pp. 1-20

Could not many of these same arguments brought forth against everyone having the vote not be transferred to everyone not having an equal voice on social media? The platforms have devolved into shouting arenas with vitriol dripping from every tweet, post or TikTok video. You can literally call the sky blue and scores of anonymous trolls will call you out for being a misogynistic, white supremacist, hell-born Nazi. Share or post an article and the horde of Pavlov trained hounds will spew pre-programmed insults or praise with zero critical thought regarding the story or even a rudimentary understanding of it past the click-bait title.

Perhaps there should be a means test built into the algorithms of the various social media platforms. Maybe before a patron is allowed to comment, they must submit a short essay or answer a questionnaire to demonstrate they have actually read the article and then have something constructive to add to the conversation. Before a video is posted, a panel of luminaries could judge the relative merits of putting it out into the public sphere. Just before a Tweet is sent, an editor could review the content and spelling for context and thoughtfulness.

Of course, this is all idiotic fantasy, Pandora’s Box was long ago opened and the social media muses will never be confined again without hardcore, draconian interventions.

But not all is doom and gloom as there are diamonds within the Matrix if you search them out. Below is a partial list of organizations and persons which I find are balanced, logical, and whom otherwise I would never have interacted with outside of the ‘net.

ZDoggMD – an excellent source for humour & layman’s medical knowledge
Andy Ngô – an underground reporter who is unmasking Antifa’s domestic terrorism
MPP Randy Hillier – literally the only Canadian politician who has been consistently trying to make some sense out of Canada’s Covid-19 response
MLA Ellis Ross – BC representative trying to lift BC Natives out of poverty through responsible resource development
Viewpoint from the North – Comprehensive list of article pertaining to northern BC issues with an emphasis on the Wet’suwet’en people
Royal United Services Institute – source for military matters related to the Canadian sphere
Daniel Bordman – Canadian current affairs specialist
Rex Murphy – An absolute Canadian literary giant
Farm Babe – great source for agriculture truth and information
Caitlin Johnson – an insightful article writer on Medium
Alexander Zubatov – writer on current affairs
Tim Dunne – military current affairs writer
David Pugliese – military current affairs writer and general pain in the arse
Sienna Hunter – sex worker & podcaster of ‘The Escort: Deconstructed‘
Joe Rogan – successful podcaster with guests from across the spectrum
Outlaw Morgan – if you want down to earth, you can’t get any more real
Patrick Moore – former founder of Greenpeace trying to put science back in the movement
Ivor Cummins – holds a large repository of material related to Sars-Cov-2
Stephen Kamugasa – thoughtful writer originally from the Dark Continent
Kady M. – writer who heavily relies on data & logic
Milhouse Van Houten – regularly produces detailed Covid-19 data charts for Ontario & Quebec weekly
Brittany Hughes – host of Reality Check
Humanoid History – an interesting wayback machine
Ben Shapiro – regular contributor to Daily Wire
Ezra Levant – head of Rebel News, the only alternative media outlet in Canada
Tucker Carlson – regular contributor to Fox News
RT – Russian State Affilitated Media – it’s good to listen to the other guys
Stewart Muir – writer and Executive Director of Resource Works
Rebecca Helm – Jellyfish, development & open ocean conservation professor
Tom Quiggin – criminal & federal court expert on jihadist terrorism, host of Quiggin Report
Joe Warmington – Toronto Sun columnist
Human Progress.Org – Documenting the improving state of the world with data

Would it not be a better world if we all tried to add to the conversation in a meaningful, respective manner? (Plus the occasional cat video, they’re so darn cute!)

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

Chopper4 footage showed smoke from multiple fires rising up in front of the Washington Monument during Washington, D.C.’s third night of protests in response to the death of George Floyd. Video/Photo Credit – NBC4 Washington

Look at all the polite rioters staying within the Capitol Building velvet ropes. Photo Credit – CSPAN2

Who is the Evil Empire/Who are the Rebel Alliance?

“At every period of history, people have believed things that were just ridiculous, and believed them so strongly that you risked ostracism or even violence by saying otherwise. If our own time were any different, that would be remarkable. As far as I can tell it isn’t.” ― Paul Graham

He who writes the ‘History’ gets to dictate what ‘History’ is remembered. Whoever was the ‘evil villain’ or ‘courageous freedom fighter’ depends on whose side you agreed with and your perspective. Moral Relativism enables a person to perform the mental gymnastics to justify what would normally be abhorrent. It is how the great tragedies of the 20th century were allowed to take place.

The rioting which happened at the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021 during the review of the Electoral College votes to confirm who would be the next President, was wrong. Full stop! Joe Biden came out during the fracas and said some strong words to the nation which in my opinion were entirely appropriate given the situation. I recommend that you read the transcript, his speech writer must have writer’s cramp from putting it together so quickly. At the end, reporters were shouting questions and Mr. Biden testily retorted, ‘Enough is enough is enough!’ There was a real expression of feelings from the man who will be the next President.

But contrast this to the deafening silence or outright support from Mr. Biden, Democrats, The Left et al, while America was burned and pillaged this past year by BLM and Antifa thugs. Scores of people have died in those protests whose paroxysms have been in revenge for the ‘unjust’ killing of this or that ‘pillar of the community’ black man. Let me ask you a simple question. If Ashli Babbitt was black and those were BLM rioters, do you honestly believe that building would not have been burnt to the ground right now? But no, the MSM is in overdrive spin mode painting her as a Far Right, QAnon ‘believer’. The narrative is that it was right for this unarmed, non-threatening woman to have been shot down in cold blood (video clip).

Mark my words, this will spill over into a witch hunt of the USAF in a quest to root out the ‘endemic racism’ of the organization.

That is enough about America and their troubles. This article is about how this type of unrest is inevitably coming to Canada. Canadians tut-tut about our silly cousins to the South but it is the height of ignorance to morally justify that we are any better.

People get angry when they believe they are victims of inequality or injustice. Listen to the anger of some of the rioters being interviewed in the Capitol building. The Left shouted for four straight years that Trump and his supporters were the devil incarnate and should be fought against as if they were all Nazi scum. Imagine a nagging, abusive spouse belittling, disparaging, and denigrating you for years on end. Then when you finally snap and give them a black eye, they shout, ‘See, I was right about you all along!’. The newspaper reports on the spousal battery, the neighbors shake their heads, and the feminists have another misogynistic story to tout.

Morally, is it not at least understandable that all people have a breaking point if they are pushed too far?

But it comes back to the narrative and who controls it whether that is the government, the media, tech giants or whoever shouts the loudest with the most followers on social media.

Here’s a small example of spinning and censoring the narrative: As people were starting to polarize into their ‘For’ & ‘Against’ camps regarding the mess at the Capitol building, I came across a FaceBook post of a minor musical celebrity I know, Alana Levandoski. An old acquaintance of mine had bucked the trend of the general comments imploring Alana to not bring race into the debate. Then I tossed in my two cents.

Screenshot of my now censored comment (Thanks to Jeff for saving it for me)

If you go to Alana’s FaceBook page now, all negative comments have been expunged and I am no longer allowed to air my views. In fact, Alana has doubled down on her intolerance of counter-opinion by posting a piece which basically says if you’re white then you must ‘SHUT UP! Go to your room and reflect on your sins!‘

I absolutely understand Alana’s position, she has a certain type of fan base she needs to pander to and it is how she makes her living. But the danger is people get into their little prejudicial, echo bubbles and all the nuances of grey become opposing camps of black and white.

So as America has become a miasma of hate with insults and fists being hurled back and forth, so too, I fear Canada is in for the same fate. The polarization of which Covid, climate, environment, etc. tribe you belong to is starting to hammer away at Confederation. At the best of times, neighbors would be able to weather some hateful discord. But our country is headed towards economic collapse with our out of control government spending and endless Covid lockdowns.

When push comes to shove and everyone’s backs are against the economic wall, will Canadians be that polite anymore? Do not be so vain to not recognize the dangers of what a mob of desperate people will do let alone a mob of desperate politicians.

And when the mob comes, who will they be, Freedom fighters, Terrorists, Saviours, or Despots? It will all be in the perspective of who ultimately writes the tale and who is allowed to tell it.

Blair’s LinkedIn Profile

Blair is a personification of a ‘Jack of All Trades and Master of None’. He has held several careers and has all the T-shirts. Time to add the title Blogger to the list.

Month: January 2021

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Who is the Evil Empire/Who are the Rebel Alliance?