Lee statue getting taken down

[Vanilla Gorilla]

A statue of an American Confederate general at the centre of a violent rally in Charlottesville nearly four years ago is being taken down.

The statue of General Robert E Lee and another of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson will be put into storage.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57788220

Funny how it had been standing there the last 4 years without much fuss

[Din Djarin]

Sounds chinese :-D So no suprise there folks :P

[6-eyed]

Funny how it had been standing there the last 4 years without much fuss

The public will get angry only when the media instructs them to.

“Don’t wanna be an American idiot. One nation controlled by the media”

[Din Djarin]

Do you mean social media? Isn't it there were most of the instructions to get angry about something come from?

[6-eyed]

Sure why not. Big tech decides what stories trend, and which stories get hushed.

[Din Djarin]

Indeed, Big Tech is responsible for everything. Individual consumers have no influence or responsibility at all. Never!

[Jessica]

Din Djarin of course individuals have responsibility, but it isn't reasonable to expect the average person to act against a powerful system that is actively manipulating them. I don't think it's any "evil" individual people at the top of the industry, I think it's the system. I think we've created a system that is working really well at what it's trying to do, but which isn't good for people. What it's trying to do is make the most money out of its users.

Even a lot of the stuff that instructs people to get angry, it isn't really that some evil mastermind is planning to benefit from everyone being angry about statues, it's that outrage is a useful emotion for getting people engaged. The system is just trying to get the maximum engagement, for profit. That's why every (sensible) person looks around and goes.. who is actually doing this? Anyone? No-one? Who actually thinks these things? It isn't about thinking those things. All of this is purely about keeping people on Facebook for as long as possible.

It IS the responsibility of Big Tech first, because they are the ones with the power to change the system. Changing the system would lose them a lot of money. Look at our tiny Likegate. Imagine that on a big scale because Instagram removes the things that are keeping people addicted and compulsive.

[Lynnbrown]

well stated.

[Din Djarin]

Din Djarin of course individuals have responsibility, but it isn't reasonable to expect the average person to act against a powerful system that is actively manipulating them. I don't think it's any "evil" individual people at the top of the industry, I think it's the system. I think we've created a system that is working really well at what it's trying to do, but which isn't good for people. What it's trying to do is make the most money out of its users.

Even a lot of the stuff that instructs people to get angry, it isn't really that some evil mastermind is planning to benefit from everyone being angry about statues, it's that outrage is a useful emotion for getting people engaged. The system is just trying to get the maximum engagement, for profit. That's why every (sensible) person looks around and goes.. who is actually doing this? Anyone? No-one? Who actually thinks these things? It isn't about thinking those things. All of this is purely about keeping people on Facebook for as long as possible.

It IS the responsibility of Big Tech first, because they are the ones with the power to change the system. Changing the system would lose them a lot of money. Look at our tiny Likegate. Imagine that on a big scale because Instagram removes the things that are keeping people addicted and compulsive.

I agree that the businesses that have the biggest influence/control over such a system have a bigger responsibility than the individual user. But that doesn't mean the individual user/consumer doesn't have any at all. It's too often put like because the individual has too less impact and 'big tech' too much that we don't have any responsibility or power and therefor can righfully complain about big tech in a fatalistic way. That's a little bothering to me.

And just because these people at the top of the industry aren't operating with evil intent, doesn't change they're generally operating from an opportunistic mindset. I don't find evil the most sensible definition there anyway. The most evil thing in reality is simply people doing nothing to stop a bad thing (or system). There is no real evil. Just people acting upon their greed, fear, etc. etc. And people not acting because they're complacent, fatalistic, busy with their own things, etc.