The film,
Social Dilemma, a production by Netflix corporation, begins with an opening quote by
Sophocles "Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse."
and ends with the statement "Let's have a conversation about fixing
it.". Nothing in between in the more than 133 minutes of the film addresses
the fundamental and critical problem that needs to be "fixed" (or
replaced)--capitalism. Various technology experts in the film casually
mention that the present technology of social media serves to persuade
people to buy products, for ulterior political aims, and to manipulate
people to create more profits for the giant technology corporations. But that's it. They obviously cannot connect these effects to the system of capitalism.
Throughout
the film we follow the life of a social media addict and his behaviors that are affected by this addiction. But, mostly he does like most
addicts do: succumb to his addiction by being distant from his family, inattention at school, and poor self-esteem. The film provides disturbing
information that social media corporations like Facebook, Google, Instagram,
Pinterest, Twitter, etc. are causing, and the many adverse effects on mostly young people:
increasing suicide rates among young users, poor performance at school,
deleterious effects on family cohesion, etc.
The message is clear for the audience of the film:
technology is the problem and those who have created it need to fix it.
These technologists recommend a few specific fixes such as greater
regulation of social media corporations, parents limiting the time
allowed for young people to use social media, etc., but nothing related to the underlying system of capitalism.
To be
sure, not only social media has caused serious problems, but the whole
internet technology as directed by capitalist bosses has caused serious
problems. What these technologist-speakers fail to uncover is the
man-made system of capitalism that has brought this "curse" to
societies, instead the film focuses on the devastating effects of social media on mostly young people, and methods to "fix" them so that they can reduce the harmful effects.
These technologists-speakers are the perfect product of the ruling
capitalist class whose control of every institution--education, media,
entertainment, etc.--has ensured that they remain oblivious to the
underlying system of capitalism that controls the use of social media to promote an
increase profits of capitalists and their control of society.
Back
in the 1980s technologists were initially fascinated with its promise
to enrich people's lives by making access to information more
convenient, connecting people instantly to friends and loved ones
separated by hundreds of miles, and managing their daily affairs so
conveniently. They initially saw this technology as simply "so cool" to be
involved with. In the early years, they accomplished much and the
future looked promising.
However, the ruling capitalist class
began to see that this technology could be harnessed to reap greater
profits, provide greater surveillance on potential troublemakers, and
enable 24/7 propaganda to ensure that their subjects receive the “right”
information about what was happening in the world. They slowly, but
deliberately, set about to develop this technology to serve these
interests, and Silicon Valley took off. Now that they have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to radically increase the harmful effects on young people, the effects of social media look
frightening.
Meanwhile, as social media technology developed, the ruling class continued the ongoing indoctrination of
capitalist values and discouraged the belief that any other system was
even possible. Thus, these former young innovative technologists, like all Americans, remained naively
committed to capitalism as they got older. The indoctrination encouraged the belief that
no other system was even possible. This film produced by Netflix
corporation serves to ensure that these technology "fixers" and the general audience remain in
ignorance.
- America’s “Good” Wars by Alan Johnstone from Dissident Voice. (Although he uses little documentation to back up his history of WWII, he clearly knows his history. I have read widely about WWII and can verify his history of the war. This history is largely unknown to Americans because they have been so subject to the Empire's propaganda about this war, and all the other wars since.)