The Internet and the Left

 

The Internet and the Left

 Staistica estimates that there were 312 million internet users in the United States in 2019.  This is slightly less than the total population of the U.S. the same year, estimated as 328.2 million people.

 Most of these American internet users are channeled by the embedded algorithms of the West Coast big tech giants, (Alphabet (Google and YouTube), Facebook, Twitter, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle), toward whatever their commercial, political or social interests dictate.

 These 300 million plus computer and internet users are being manipulated and brainwashed without even knowing it.  They may have some idea, when ads for an item in which they expressed interest, follow them on successive web pages, but this is just an open commercial pitch.  The political and social indoctrinations are hidden, are deeper and are more insidious.

 Typical American computer and internet users, who have bought their equipment “off the shelf”, default to the programs, search engines and apps of the tech giants.  They are readily available, “free” and easy to use.  We all use them, other than techies that know better, and they have become ubiquitous and second nature.

 We use Google to “look up stuff”.  We use some form of email using default servers from the big tech companies.  We use YouTube to watch funny cat videos.  We use Facebook and Twitter and Apple apps to socialize.  We use all sorts of Microsoft and Apple apps for a myriad of purposes.  We use Oracle products without even knowing it.

 And working within all of this “free stuff”, are programmed algorithms that guide us how to think, mostly toward a left-leaning political position.  We are being continually brainwashed toward a left-wing slant, enhancing what we mostly see on TV and read in most of our newspapers. Eventually, the “truth” will lean to the left, and denounce opposing political thought as “disinformation” or “misinformation”.

 Which “truth” do the big tech oligopolies push? -  Most of the leftist “liberal” mantra.

 1.)   We are a systemic racist country that owes our origins to 1619, when the first African slaves arrived, not 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was signed.

 2.)   We should continue to disarm our police departments, and rely more on psychological and psychiatric interactions in civil and criminal disturbances, particularly those involving our black or brown citizens.  The police are racist, and shouldn’t have guns.

3.)   We should all be classified by group, for assigning rewards or condemnation. (Identity politics).

 4.)   Use of “cancel culture”, “doxing” and other forms of social ostracism should not be discouraged, since these practices tend to bring recalcitrant individuals back into line with acceptable thought and opinion, i.e., back “the truth”.

 5.)   Adherents of opposition politics, such as followers of Donald Trump, should be “re-educated” to bring them in line with acceptable political thought.

 6.)   Wealthy people and companies should “pay their fair share” of taxes, forgetting that they already have “paid their fair share”, and are using their wealth to grow the economy and create employment.

 7.)   We should enfranchise all inhabitants of the country as U.S. citizens, no matter how they arrived here.  We should make our borders accessible to all comers, and welcome them to U.S. citizenship quickly and expeditiously.

 8.)   Our country, along with other wealthy western countries, should join to ban fossil fuels, nuclear energy and other “polluting” power sources, and concentrate on renewable “green” energy, (wind, sun, tides, etc.).  Participation by other “developing” countries, such as China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Russia would not be mandatory.

 9.)   We should export our “democratic” form of government to “hot spots” around the world, and enforce this “democracy” militarily, if necessary.

 10.)                   We should rely on non-proliferation treaties, with appropriate monetary incentives, to curb the international spread of nuclear weapons.

 So just doing nothing but watching mainstream media news an TV, reading the large influential newspapers and magazines, and normal use of the ubiquitous “free” internet tools offered by the big tech oligopolies, a preponderance of American citizens will we slanted toward the left in their politics.  That this is true is evident from our last election, and the current make-up of our government.

 How to avoid this insidious indoctrination on the internet?  Use neutral software, search engines and apps that are not tainted with a left-wing or commercial brush. 

 1.)   Use “Brave” as a browser in place of Google Chrome. (Or “Dissenter” to color it a little right)

 2.)   Use “Infogalactic” as a browser for an even more conservative slant.

 3.)   Use “Duck-Duck Go” as a search engine rather than Google. - Funny name, but it’s neutral, and doesn’t track you.

 4.)   The big oligopolies have shut down “Parler” as an alternative to Twitter.

 5.)   Use “Gab” in place of Facebook.

 6.)   Use “Rumble” as another alternative to Twitter.

 The above are easily installed in place of the ones pushed by the big tech companies, by even a geriatric user who has an eight-year-old kid to help them.  A path further travelled by the computer technophile is to get out of the Microsoft and Windows and Apple world entirely, and go with freeware like one of the Linux distributions, and open-source software for all of the usually used Windows-specific programs.  I had kept up with this world for a while, but I must admit that I have not up to date any more.

 Also, use good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs.  Avast and AVG are still free anti-virus programs.  Malwarebytes is still a free anti-spyware program.  VPN’s, (Virtual Private Networks), create a secure “tunnel” when you’re online.  It’s worth paying for a decent one like VyPrVPN, which I use.

  https://www.statista.com/statistics/276445/number-of-internet-users-in-the-united-states/

Ray Gruszecki

January 18, 2021