... these days most elitist wankers are trained how to write, and read, and think, in MFA conformity factories, where they screen out any unstable weirdos with unhealthy interests in political matters. This is to avoid embarrassing episodes like Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize lecture (which, if you haven’t read it, you probably should), and is why so much of contemporary literature is so well-behaved and instantly forgettable. This institutionalized screening system is also why the majority of journalists employed by mainstream media outlets understand, without having to be told, what they are, and are not, allowed to report.Hopkins writes in a chatty style to explain how he learned about the subtle ways corporations have to discourage people from writing or accessing ideas that the ruling capitalist class finds objectionable. The reference to COINTELPRO is intentional to convey the hidden or secret nature of these methods. He doesn't see the methods as constituting outright censorship, but adapted from earlier forms to fit in the contemporary "brave new world" of digital media. As a writer and thinker he tells his personal story of his road to discovery of the pitfalls that any independent thinker/writer should consider when writing for this brave new digital world, or by implication, the difficulties that others might encounter trying to access material by independent thinkers and writers.
Actually the methods aren't all that new because I, personally, have experienced their analogs (def.) while working for bosses throughout much of my life. They have just been re-adapted to fit the online world. You see, our ruling masters want us to continue to believe the myths propagated by their system of indoctrination that all of their subjects (that's us) are exposed to all of their (our) lives; you know, the myths about all the freedoms we enjoy as Americans living in an exceptional country. So, what's a ruling class to do under those circumstances? Well, they have found sure-fire methods to discourage anyone from straying from their capitalist ideology while either writing for, or perusing, the World Wide Web. Read about Hopkins' experience to learn more, and you might find some similarities in your own experience either online or off.
You may also be interested in the growing effort to privatize the internet--the better to (def.) control its content--by reading "'Time to Raise Hell': Internet Defenders Mobilize as FCC Aims to Kill Net Neutrality Within Month".
