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In March, the United States Special Operations Command, the section of the Defense Department supervising the US Special Forces, held a conference on the theme of "Sovereignty in the Information Age." The conference brought together Special Forces officers with domestic police forces, including officials from the New York Police Department, and representatives from technology companies such as Microsoft.
This meeting of top military, police and corporate representatives went unreported and unpublicized at the time. However, the Atlantic Council recently published a 21-page document summarizing the orientation of the proceedings. It is authored by John T. Watts, a former Australian Army officer and consultant to the US Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security.
[...] The private sector, therefore, must do the dirty work of the government, because government propaganda is viewed with suspicion by the population. "Business and the private sector may not naturally understand the role they play in combating disinformation, but theirs is one of the most important.... In the West at least, they have been thrust into a central role due to the general public's increased trust in them as institutions."
But this is only the beginning. Online newspapers should "consider disabling commentary systems—the function of allowing the general public to leave comments beneath a particular media item," while social media companies should "use a grading system akin to that used to rate the cleanliness of restaurants" to rate their users' political statements.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/10/05/pers-o05.html
(Score: 5, Informative) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:03PM (19 children)
There it is folks. The merger of state and corporate power. Staring you in the face. Ain't no one got any excuse now for saying it's not happening here.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:12PM (4 children)
LOL [twitter.com] Which side are the fascists again?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:33PM
The powerful side which has totally engulfed the DNC and GOP.
Got any more partisan hackery you'd like to spread this today?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:35PM (2 children)
Any side that wishes to oppress our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms. And that includes the left, right and center.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @07:36PM (1 child)
Power.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @07:30PM
Reading Comprehension.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:14PM (1 child)
The US military spends a lot of time drafting plans top invade Russia, Zimbabwe, Singapore, or London... Few of the things they say or plan are designed to be actually put in place.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:19PM
The Military plans for a lot of things that never happen but the plans are in place if they are needed.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:23PM (11 children)
It's definition applies to basically every single government that has ever existed.
My guess is that Dinesh D'Souza is correct [amazon.com]: The Academic left, having fled (literally) the horrors of its doctrine in Europe, has spent a great deal of time obfuscating what "fascism" means, moving it carefully into the "right" wing of politics.
In short, this isn't textbook fascism; rather, this is textbook authoritarianism.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by fritsd on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:42PM
here's yet another collection of partial definitions for you, then.
Eco explains that it is a vague term, that can be applied to a broad selection of different organizations. It is not meant to be a clear or self-consistent definition.
Ur-Fascism, by Umberto Eco [nybooks.com]
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:44PM (9 children)
In that particular context, does it matter what we call it? In as much as it's a very bad thing either way. Or do you disagree with that?
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @05:55PM (8 children)
You have to recognize that what's bad either way is the idea of a government itself—the idea that society should be built atop this one, peculiar organization that takes resources at gunpoint against an individual's will.
Put another way: This article only exists, because you're being forced to pay for research into how you yourself can be censored. That's the bad thing either way. There is no greater democracy than being able to say "What? I'm not paying for that!"
Let me be clear: I'm not saying you have to agree that government should be thrown out overnight or that I have a suitable replacement for organizing society. However, I am saying that you must admit, audibly, to yourself and to others, that a member of Civilized society should be interested in looking at ways to get closer to a Stateless society.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @06:55PM (6 children)
The final say: Idiots should not comment on topics they do not understand
Addendum: Anarchy is stoopid mmkay?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @07:05PM (2 children)
They don't have these kinds of problems (or discussions) in dictatorial regimes. I'm just sayin'
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @07:55PM (1 child)
There is always a balance that must be made between individual and group control. Dictstors are the worst of both, individuals wielding total group control. Stateless society is stupid because then one group can go rogue and take over the planet with a butter knife.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09 2018, @11:16PM
You seem to think the concept of a "stateless society" implies no weapons (or butter-proof vests, for that matter) exist. Even if that were somehow true, I don't think I'm unique in having a number of agricultural tools in the shed that easily trump your butter-knife.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @01:40AM (2 children)
No! You've shown me the light! Anarchy is the future of womankind! Men aren't angels, and since women are angelic, as we've established, the obvious final solution is to kill all men! Let's get this revolution started! Infinite turns anarchy (for Civ fans)!
(Either that or we can go the boring route and just implement a permanent, international revolution of the working class according to a socialist program as the Trotskyists suggest. 1 turn anarchy. Booooooooring!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @04:08AM (1 child)
I agree, join us:
https://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?noupdate=1&sid=20695&page=1&cid=542949#commentwrap [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 10 2018, @01:13PM
Yes! Soon will implement the Exterminate Men Angelic Contract System!
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday October 10 2018, @07:51AM
Whenever that actually happens, someone moves right on in, takes control then quite likely starts murdering their enemies.
A Stateless society is at best a theoretical ideal.
Consider also that the totally screwed-up notions of morality that many Americans possess are the direct result of the new world's early colonists commonly being Utopians.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]