A pitched battle is underway to control new wealth. Covid lockdowns with masking is one battle ground and so is Cancel Culture and so is control of elections. The new wealth is data on almost every human being alive and the ability to exploit it and to throttle it cheaply at the speed of light. Who is the top dog? We don’t know yet. Governments are trying for the lion’s share but give ground to large operations in Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Mass media, the papers, and entertainment purveyors are in there tweaking and stealing and corralling data. The big surprise is that NGO’s and private interest groups and even individuals own some of the internet space because access to millions of followers is so cheap and so fast. The power structure is changing rapidly. If government gets the upper hand, expect to see Chinese Communism with American Characteristics featuring mass surveillance and behaviour interdiction. More likely is a mixed recasting of federal-corporate-interest-group powers.
Human nature is reverting to the tribal in this setting. Behind “woke” “white privilege” and other badges of approval and shame is the old time simple fact of xenophobia, fear of strangers. Sadly, the strangers are fellow citizens who don’t live in my bubble.
If we own our own data and can capitalize it, not just have it snuffled up or stolen by a few big players, perhaps this will change. Don't expect justice but hope for a measure of competition between thieves of freedom.
"In the modern world, data is wealth"
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