I just re-read the following quote from a Facebook company spokesperson (which I got from the Times), a quote I handed to you yesterday.
Yesterday I concentrated on the awfulness of such hugely powerful internet media companies—companies that already dominate our interactions without infecting our politics and politicians (except of course for the politicians who are either stupid or phallicly self-destructive)—now openly bragging they intend to use their vast monies to buy politicians.
But let’s parse that quote:
“FB PAC will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” a company spokesman said.
How many lies can you count in that quote? How many disingenuous statements? How Orwellian can Facebook get?
- I’ve already noted that Facebook declares its cohort of employees have only one voice. An obvious lie or a terrifying condition of employment. Must employees take political loyalty tests?
- Our voice (or voices, actually) is heard in the political process by voting, not by giving vast amounts of money to politicians.
- We can assume that Facebook’s single-voice employees already share Facebook’s goal, the goal of any corporation: to make a huge profit and increase that profit every year.
- “Promoting the value of innovation.” See number 3 above. Whatever Facebook offers in the way of innovation to all of us non-Facebook employees does not make us any money, or save us any money as do, say, solar panels on our roofs, or lithium batteries in our cars. The only value in Facebook’s “promoting the value of innovation” is to Facebook.
- So who are the “candidates who share [Facebook’s] goals”? Any candidate who is eager to accept Facebook’s “support.” Therefore Facebook is actually competing with us individual constituents to support politicians. Except, of course, they have a lot more money than we do. So Facebook is competing unfairly. We merely vote for politicians; Facebook buys them.
- “Value of innovation to our economy.” I’ve already suggested a couple of innovators who really do supply value to our economy by providing real jobs and saving us consumers money. Facebook is not on my list.
- “Giving people the power to share.” “Power” is an hypnotic, corporate sales-pitch word. Companies with power, i.e., money, tell us that they’re empowering us. How gracious! All they’re actually “empowering” us to do is … buy their product. Our true power is to evaluate what they’re offering and not buy their product.
- More, re “power”: I so resent the lie that a company, or another person, gets to offer me power. The only person who empowers me is me.
- “Value of innovation.” What exactly is so innovative about Facebook? The telephone was innovative. Electricity was innovative. Literacy through universal, i.e., public school education was and is again innovative. Writing implements such as pens and typewriters and computers were innovative. Facebook is just another way of using these innovations to communicate.
- “Giving people the power to share…” I have the “power to share.” Facebook doesn’t give it to me. This is Facebook lingo for which I have only one word: chutzpah.
- “Make the world more open.” Well, Facebook doesn’t do it. Fact media, what is left of ’em, do. Facebook makes individuals too open, to their detriment.
- We have long been connected without Facebook. See 9, above.
Twelve Angry Points, a grand jury indictment of Facebook, its awful PAC and its pretension, derived directly—and without a shred of innovation—from Citizens United, that it has the individual right to buy politics.