I understand that my own corner of the internet is not particularly important, but I only have to be one brick in the wall.

And I can even become a *couple* of bricks by extending those principles to the other sites and tools that I use, and refusing to participate in ones that cave to pressure to erode our civil rights.

No one will notice that I’m not using Floop or Glorm or whatever. It’s true that I won’t cause the owners to change their behavior. But neither will I help them build power.

Admittedly the absolutely insane wealth, information and power inequalities in the world only skyrocketed once the Internet was created. But is it correlation, causation or coincidence? The Internet enabled Google, Amazon, Facebook, but really those guys were using the same techniques that worked to screw up brick and mortar business in the 1800's. We just had laws to prevent it, and for some reason people started lying that didn't apply when you couldn't walk into the store. And got away with it, every time. Plus wealth monstrosities created by SpaceX, and indeed "brick and mortar" superstores weren't aided by the Internet. And the vast majority of rich fucks these days come from two scams: rental properties (especially hotels) and private equity. Internet doesn't help either of those schemes.

(I'd add speculation to the schemes, but that money doesn't exist; people are just lying that it does.)

So I'd say the Internet is... probably... a good thing. But its timing is terrible, coinciding with the constant, total failure of anyone opposing rich fucks and the unstoppable enslavement of every man, woman and child while the planet burns. Sometimes I just wish I could talk to my neighbors, and do something to protect ourselves against this global wave of tyranny.

I'm 100% with you on considering the Internet to be my "home" so to speak. What corporations have done to it in this Age of Enshittification was already bad enough, but to take away people's basic anonymity, privacy, and safety with laws themselves so we can't even legally fight back against the things destroying us is just... I don't have words...

I mean, what's next? A law that everyone must put their bank account numbers as plain text in their usernames everywhere?

@CStamp @benroyce Updates to things I paid for and previously used are a whole ‘nother furious soapbox for me.

Younger Val was naive and excited about the concept of getting automatic software updates. Tsk tsk. If only she’d known.

@Bobblegagger @benroyce Hm. On the bright side, those do seem mostly like services that would know it directly from you as opposed to having bought it from someone.

I’d still prefer not getting the email, but it’s something.

@Bobblegagger
i get those emails too

....on my fake birthday i've been entering into sites when i have to since forever