Tech Punks

Welcome to the Circus, where the Animals are amused as the Audience serves as entertainment and even pay for the seats to their own show. In this Audience, the people sit, smile, wave, stare at each other, laugh and sometimes cry. There is beauty, uniqueness, remarkable works of art and performances of unfathomable talent. They trade photos, stories, opinions wherefore agreeable or not and even the occasional epic flippant display of disdain is observed. The Audience and the individual is in itself the substance, their voice is original albeit gated by interrupted intuitive inserts and suggestive bellows from the Beasts who circle in between remarks. Take note that members may disagree among themselves but never are they to disagree with the Beasts or with those who share its platform. After all, the Audience does not run the show - they are merely an assembly of capital devices whose existence is solely, of course, at the pleasure and will of the Beasts. Whenever one of these digital caricatures stray from the ideals of the Beasts, with their obvious good intent and infinite sage like wisdom, they promptly are consumed.

But, Alas! Somewhere in this injunction of dysfunction therein lies an important question: Where is the Ringmaster?

Or will Beasts simply run wild?

There is not a day in your life, or seldom even an hour at times, that you are not using either one of the following services: Facebook. Google. Youtube.

It truly amazes me to witness the shear size, reach and scope of these companies. They truly dominate the world and all have near consolidation in their respective markets, which some would argue - renders them Monopolies. As of late, there has been growing backlash from both Users and Employees of some of these services, who are calling for the Government to begin enforcing regulations or passing new legislation. One proposal for such a new piece of legislation calls for the classification of these companies as a 'public utility'. Many people believe that classifying Social Networks or Search Engines as a utility would help restrain their seemingly unbridled expansion and inhibit these services from allegedly violating free speech or civil rights. It is not clear whether such a move would effectively help prevent any of these problems or whether or not Pandora's Box would be opened by this reclassification. For instance, if Search Engines or Social Networks were required to register as a public utility it is possible there exists a plethora of laws that are already on the books that may likely be more advantageous to those who have ulterior motives.

And now concerning these Companies there sits the Giant Proverbial Elephant in the room called Political Correctness. Some people have lost their jobs, their Ad earnings or even the ability to have an audience because of the Political Correctness and it's ceaseless Witch Hunt against those who disagree with its doctrine. It becomes obvious that this action purports an image not of inclusiveness as they tout but rather exclusiveness: If you do not march to the cadence of this bias then you are simply excluded from the Market share. Thus you become seriously disadvantaged by this blacklisting and it makes it quite difficult for you to have a fair shake in the World Wide Web. Unfortunately it is apparent that an ever growing number of Professions and Companies have adopted this Mantra of Political Correctness.

Some may reason that: 'If you don't like these websites then don't use them', which is obvious and just about as plainly logical as it gets. What many do not know is that beneath the surface of the majority of websites you visit - the Beasts are still there and idly listen in. There are Adservers, Analytics, Plugins and Content Services which are hosted or offered by either Facebook or Google that most Websites use. As a site visitor you are subjected to this invasive overreach which just about encompasses the entire Web. There has been various News and Reports lately that certain Companies have been censoring certain users based upon their Political Affiliation or Beliefs. Given the reach and near consolidation of these services one would surmise that such censorship amounts to Economic Sanctions on Individuals and it is truly frightening that Corporations could hold this much Power with impunity.

Regardless of who you are or what you believe in, the right to freely speak your mind should be held sacred and that right should be guarded with fervor. Never forget that many have suffered so that we could be free. There is nothing Progressive about censoring opposing views or creating echo chambers full of a false sense of validation and shameless self gratification.

A conversation takes two sides.