Which Side Are You On, David’s or Digital Capitalist Goliath’s?
What the digital revolution did was enable everyone to be an artist, everyone to be a journalist, pundit, writer, shaper of opinions, with a potential to grow a substantial audience without the need for corporate backing or approval. What it simultaneously did was give corporations an opportunity to spy on us and consolidate power in new ways and on unprecedented levels. It was only a matter of time before the two opposites collided. In truth, the former was only ever permitted in order that people would not focus on the latter. It really was remarkable to connect with independent musicians and contribute to their ability to make music. It was inspiring to see independent authors gain huge readerships (and royalties) without the need for a publishing company telling them what kind of product they needed to create. It was revelatory to see independent journalists show just how completely out of touch corporate politicians and corporate media really were.
We should have known this would never be allowed to continue. It should have been obvious that ordinary people were taking not only profits from corporations but the very narrative they need to control things, as well. Corporations don’t operate on the principle of fairness or philanthropy. Taking money from their shareholders and shaping a world where corporations don’t control not only the means of production but the very way people see and interact with the outside world is not an idea corporations are going to be okay with. It was just a matter of time before they would strike back.
Like I said, we should have known. And on some level, most of us did know. It’s just we were being flooded by so much free content and so much potential to reach out and interact freely with others it was hard not to indulge ourselves, hard not to dive in to all that freedom and exploration and community-building that was busting out all over the world. The internet was such a wonderful creation, and it is only natural that we took advantage of all that it provided.
That’s the way the capitalistic system works, they lure you in with free quality product and then once they have you hooked they change the terms. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about a drug dealer or the History Channel, they start out by acting like they’re your friend and then they end up offering you nothing but Pawn Stars and Ancient Aliens.
Corporate mega-players like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and others, could never have continued to provide you with freedom and a level playing field forever. It would have meant signing their own death warrant. The system they are part of, the system they serve and that serves them in return, could never exist in a free and open environment.
We were sold a David and Goliath story, one where independent artists and voices were given the opportunity to take on the big guys in a fair fight and let the audience decide who they wanted to listen to or watch or read. And we were told how we could build up a group of followers on social media we could sell our ideas and our work to and we could build communities that would change the future.
That was the promise. Never, never ever, even if they pinky swear, believe the promises of a corporation or a corporate system. They’re the same people who sold you cigarettes and white bread and wars and many things we’re not allowed to talk about now without the fear of censorship by algorithms or banishment.
Censorship. It’s a word we were frightened to death of a decade ago. Sure, we permitted government agencies to spy on us after 9/11, so we couldn’t plot in secret to do things the government might disapprove of, but we could still speak freely in the open any ideas that precluded violence. But spying alone proved insufficient. People talking openly about ideas outside the corporate narrative was poking too many holes in that narrative. And so all that freedom and opportunity we were given by the grace of corporate entities was destined to be taken away by those very same entities.
We should have known we weren’t simply being given a gift. We should have known like the Trojans should have known when the Achaeans wheeled up a giant horse for them to take into their city that our enemies hadn’t suddenly become our friends. But I guess vanity and the sacrifice of eternal vigilance and the beauty of the gift all played their part.
The battle is on. I know what side you were on twenty years ago when corporations were saying we were headed towards a revolutionary new way of doing things. I know you were looking forward to a world where everything was not top down and the little guy could succeed by saying things that resonated with others and by providing product that others wanted to pay for.
But what side are you on now? Are you still with the average Joe, the independent voice and artist, or are you on the side of the corporations looking to silence the voices of the little people who grew too bold?
Don’t fold on me now. Don’t abandon the ideal of a future where the average person can take on the big corporations and the world can be shaped by ideas rather than money and power. They’re going to come up with all kinds of reasons why you need to do so. They are going to make you afraid in any way possible in order to manipulate you and make you go along with what you would never do otherwise, what you never would have imagined going along with twenty years ago. Don’t do it.
The battle is upon us. Which side are you on?