Daily Verse
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited
it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 15:6

Happy Monday. A procrastinator’s work is never done.

The “storming” of the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday was a shameful display of mob violence, which I have denounced when it was Antifa and BLM conducting themselves in such a manner all of 2020. I don’t know whether they were Trump supporters, antifa imposters or a mix of both, but there is no excusing the breach of barricades, the vandalism (broken windows and damaged doors), the utter disrespect shown in the House chamber and, worst of all, the loss of life. At least five people died, including a Capitol Hill officer and four protestors, one of whom was crushed by the stampede and another who was shot in cold blood even though she was unarmed and posed no imminent threat.

As I’ve said before, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

More disturbing and immediate for me was watching the alarming amount of power that digital titans Google, Apple and Amazon wielded over the weekend in their effort to destroy Parler.com. Google and Apple both removed Parler from their app stores, and Amazon removed them from their web servers. This came after Twitter and Facebook permanently banned president Trump from their platforms, allegedly for “inciting violence,” and indignant Trump supporters left for MeWe, Gab, Parler and other social media platforms.

Parler in particular experienced a surge in new users. But as the flood of accounts piled up, Apple announced that they were going to remove Parler from their App Store if they didn’t begin to censor moderate violent content.

“We have always supported diverse points of view being represented on the App Store, but there is no place on our platform for threats of violence and illegal activity,” Apple’s statement said. “Parler has not taken adequate measures to address the proliferation of these threats to people’s safety.”

In rapid succession—some might even say coordinated effort—Apple, Google and Amazon went from being admired innovators and service providers to suddenly fearsome giants who alone will decide what you may and may not say. And if you don’t agree with them, they have the power to destroy your business.

Who gave them the authority to determine who is allowed to say what in this country, including the president of the United States?

How is it that their morals governing right and wrong are now the standard companies are required to meet in order to stay in business?

I know, I know. They’re “private companies” so they can make those decisions and we can’t do anything about it. Section 230 and all that.

But it’s not right, and you and I know it’s not right. Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon are four of the biggest, wealthiest tech companies in the world, together worth nearly $4 trillion. They are in fact near-monopolies and have become so enmeshed with global commerce and communications that it can reasonably be argued that they are essential services.

But they are also run by Leftist oligarchs. It’s no secret that their leaders are progressives, who love the tax breaks provided by Trump, but despise him and his supporters.

If Twitter (and Facebook, who has behaved in a similar fashion) were ordinary companies, they would be dragged before the courts to face the removal of their Section 230 immunity and be swiftly re-classified as publishers, destroying their business model. What has become obvious to everyone is that these are not normal companies. In addition to their immense wealth, Twitter has ingratiated itself as a political weapon for politicians, individuals, and corporate entities. They are protected by a network of friends so powerful that it looks likely that they will escape a pending antitrust review and accusations of election interference, which occurred when executives donated to the Biden campaign whilst their companies censored unflattering stories. 

In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh computer with a commercial based on the concept of Orwell’s Big Brother in his novel, 1984. It’s hard to understand what Big Brother is saying, so I’ve reproduced it below the video, thanks to Wikipedia.

Today, we celebrate the first glorious anniversary of the Information Purification Directives. We have created, for the first time in all history, a garden of pure ideology—where each worker may bloom, secure from the pests purveying contradictory truths. Our Unification of Thoughts is more powerful a weapon than any fleet or army on earth. We are one people, with one will, one resolve, one cause. Our enemies shall talk themselves to death, and we will bury them with their own confusion. We shall prevail!

It ended with these words:

On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like 1984.

Ironic, isn’t it? Apple in 1984 was all edgy in breaking the idea of conformity, the “garden of pure ideology.” Not anymore.

Thirty-seven years later they have become the very thing they so boldly implied they stood against in 1984. They are now Big Brother, forcing “Unification of Thoughts” through their “Information Purification Directives.” The ad wasn’t so much radical chic as it was a prophetic curse.

The combination of Big Politics and Big Tech puts us squarely on the road to the loss of our freedoms, starting with freedom of speech. It’s past time to break them up and may now be too late.