First of all no, we're not doing this. I do not answer DMs from a company that is trying to do damage control AFTER they have ruined the trust of Americans. I do not have "good faith" debates with people who want to enslave me in a fishbowl that they can monitor at all times.
Guess what guys: We don't actually have to give anyone the benefit of the doubt, or engage in "good faith" debates with bad actors. I don't have to justify my concerns about Flock to anyone. But since this condescension pissed me off, I will respond publicly, since Flock seems to want to keep our voices in the shadows and out of the public eye.
Note the argument:
"You see, King George specifically authorized quartering troops among you, I don't know what you're complaining about it's ALL LEGAL".
Well, golly gee guys, I guess it's all right then, they made it legal.
That's exactly the problem. Notice how nobody has a problem with standard security cameras. Public security cameras are not the problem...directly pumping the feed of every square inch of the country into a centralized federal database is one HELL of a problem and we must do everything within our rights as Americans to push back against efforts like this, if we are to have a future as a nation.
Flock, much like Palantir, took the decently good idea of improving security, and implemented it in the most cartoonishly evil way possible at nearly every single step. They are working directly for all levels of government....not the citizenry. They use subterfuge, legal technicalities, and every single trick in the book to put up hundreds of cameras every single day. They constantly mislead the public about what databases their sensors feed into, and who they sell the metadata to.
They have so little oversight that it's laughable, and ALL oversight involves the classic case of "we investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing". Flock has been caught lying MANY times, and misleading the public regarding what their cameras actually do. Newsflash...they don't just read license plates.
They are also concealing which agencies purchase their data specifically so as to avoid getting warrants, and in doing so they have turned the ENTIRE COUNTRY into an open air prison....where THEY get to provide the intelligence data to those who enforce the laws as selectively as they please.
And their defense for doing so? "Aww look at the cute puppy we rescued" or "We arrested one guy using our camera network, we're so AWESOME".
You don't get to arrest one genuine criminal, and use that as justification to set up and entire Minority Report-esque surveillance system to surveil the entire country. You don't get to betray trust, and then be sad that people don't trust you. You don't get to cozy up to the boot of tyranny so much that you become the boot yourself, and then pretend to be just "one of the guys".
We will not fall for this gaslighting, no matter how hard they try.
For some reason, many people think that private companies can't be tyrants, which could not be further from the truth. At a certain point, a private company can be so heavily embedded within government, that they might as well BE the government. Except they are worse, because we don't even have the tiniest way to hold them accountable except for taking the billion-dollar company to court.
That's my problem with Flock, Palantir, and pretty much every single other defense contractor in existence. I will NOT accept every single facet of my life being monitored, just in case a criminal commits a crime somewhere near me. I will NOT live in "ze pod", no matter which politician is in power, and I will not accept a future where people like this will dictate to me what my country should be.
Mercury retrograde in Cancer. Old memories will resurface. Feelings related to the past will be processed. Get ready for the most emotional rollercoaster of a Mercury retrograde. Sometimes you have to take time to reflect on your past and all the old versions of you that came with it before you can see the new version of you which is emerging.
Asking for help is not easy for me, yet devastation from this tornado is extensive and I really do need help. Validation on https://t.co/Ntu8gK9NnA where you also have donate option at the top of my home page. Thank you so very much for kind support.
Dead internet theory is real.
Dead internet theory is a theory that states that a significant portion of the content we encounter online is no longer a product of real human voices, but is being created by AI and bots.
Currently, it’s estimated that half of the content we read online is AI-generated, and this is expected to increase to nearly 90% over the next few years.
Many of us can already see it. Everyone’s voices have also begun to sound eerily similar due to this exponential rise of AI-generated content.
Not only that, but much of the engagement we see online is also fake. Likes, followers, and even entire conversations can be bought and conducted by bots instead of humans engaging in discussions.
Bots can also be used for social engineering and political means.
Governments and think tanks now employ armies of bots to shape public opinion, pushing certain narratives to the top of our feeds to steer conversations and manufacture division.
No wonder so many are longing for a different kind of internet. A simpler time where blogs and forums felt like gathering around a fire, sharing stories, before everyone began using clickbait and various marketing tricks, hacks, and hooks to become “influencers.”
The good news is that, as dead internet theory becomes more of a reality, the demand for genuine spaces will only grow.
There will always be people who choose realness over being fake, imperfection over a perfectly created AI text, and their humanity over transhumanism.
While one part of the internet becomes more fake, there will be places that will become more human and real.
There will be people longing for honest discussions, made by real people.
Obviously, there is a deep need for more in-person spaces and communities for these conversations to take place.
Will social media survive this shift?
I’m not sure, but I know we’ll need to build new spaces where these honest conversations can happen - away from the noise.
That’s why I have been spending more time on Substack where I can write from the heart and create a space where honest conversations can happen. No ads. Hardly any short form videos. Less dysregulation and noise.
Whatever happens, we are surely on the edge of a new era of the internet. It’s hard to predict what will happen next.
However, we can choose to build the world we want to live in. There’s never been a better time to be a creative person.
May we use the emerging technologies to support our humanity, rather than take away from what makes us human.
Here’s to staying human.
@OwenBenjamin I took you advice two weeks ago and started toiling on my farm. I dug many plots for lavender, zinnias, mammoth sunflowers, and cosmos. It's been...the best two weeks I've had in years. Thanks Owen😊🪷🪻
@goodcharls The Holy Mountain kinda turned some gears in me mentally. Also as a 10 year old the film ghost messed me up specifically the dude yelling on the train and the only black demons taking souls to hell.
I did a talk at the campground about music wizardry with a piano. Showing how music manipulates emotions.
I’ll leave it up here for free for 48 hours. It’s really good info to have. And if you like it consider getting a paid membership for tons of other exclusives. It’s my own site and server space so I have to charge to pay costs and make a living. But there’s no ads no sponsors and I’ve never taken any hidden money from anyone to make or say anything.
https://t.co/fQlgjchzzn
If you want to take my music class
https://t.co/7qh1hH1jab
This is how we actually win. This video was at the beginning of Covid when “lock down” started and we started doing meetups. This was the beginning of beartaria. Five national festivals, hundreds of meetups and events and two comedy specials later, looking back is so heart warming.
Years after this clip, someone cut in the audio from my show on the land we were dreaming up during this clip. Everyone singing amazing grace in the middle of a comedy show.
This was as the world either pretended to die from a virus or from tyranny. We kept dreaming.
I signaled to other free and honorable men and they responded.
Right now the iron is hot and can bend in multiple directions. Bend toward the good the true and the beautiful.
Let the fire rise. The fire of harmony and faith. Let them stoke the flames of destruction. That’s their choice. Not mine. Build, love, and dream.
https://t.co/Uvm88QkFko
https://t.co/exECEB9s7n
@EscanorReloaded Your were not joking about how long it might take to read! Clear and concise piece of work. Many blessings for your time and attention. Sadly most of what you wrote didn't surprise me. Still I'm grateful you got it off your chest ❤️
@archaix138 Also I attempted to leave a comment on his X account but apparently I cannot leave a comment. I was gonna say I thought the chat was cool. He's very well versed in his field of work.
@archaix138 Dude. I was SO confused! When he asked if he could have a moment to speak you gave him a moment to speak and then some. You even suggested a second discussion You are very respectful and you admitted yes you two have different points of view on some things. Very strange reaction