China blocks Clubhouse… Like that was unexpected. And queue the messaging.
I admit to admiring the Neolithic gangster-cum-prophet who cunningly conceived the idea of the massaged message; i.e. shaping a self-serving and simplistic message into a consumable nugget, propagating it endlessly until the self-serving layers dissolve, to reveal a core message judged true and tasty by the targeted tribe.
A modern variant goes like this; China has gone from post WWII, machine age tyranny to high tech authoritarianism, once again proving that censorship is geo-specific to the benighted masses who have never experienced the opportunity to express-anything. Yes, concepts like freedom and equality are alien to these poor (but growing annoyingly richer), downtrodden folks while those of us living in Western democracies can speak with passion and insight on any issue regardless of the opinions of our largely benign elites or amicable neighbours.
Damn, I love a good sales job. It’s like living in a never-ending Superbowl commercial, as sponsored by Dupont. Of course, that’s if you’re doing well. Don’t start flaming, bitches. Breathe.
Yes, as a bougie, black male, i have on-paper rights which are the envy of countries and regions without those paper rights (although a shitton do). And beyond those specified on paper are my walk-around-rights which are enormous. In fact I enjoy freedoms that were unheard of in Canada in the very recent past. Like very, very recent past. So recent that I still have to put on a mental pair of gumboots to grape stomp nagging fears that me demanding those rights will black bag me back to the social conventions of my youth when rights of any kind were much more attenuated and grapes weren’t the only things stomped.
In my lifetime alone I’ve seen workers rights for Anglos rise (after a certain amount of bloodshed), 50s multiculturalism bring economic opportunities to the outlier tribes of west, West Asia (with a certain amount of bloodshed). The 60s ship in blacks and people of colour to the Less White North (making me feel much less lonely and yes, bloodshed.), Native folks resurrect a movement that wasn’t about to forget a cesspool of foul-play (lots of blood), all the way to the present where Gay Rights has expanded to cover an array of identities (and blood). In there somewhere white supremacy was challenged but that’s another babble blog.
Today we continue on, a raucous, embattled parade of intersecting and not-remotely-in-love bands of suspicious clans with pickaxes, out to maul the supports of a collapsing and gassy strip mine of conflicting narratives. And as anticipated a beige contingent has brought out the portable drill rigs to help along an era-defining and possible extinction level demolition.
Anyway, I’m bringing age and timelines up because I’ve seen and experienced things that will always cramp my freedom jig when the democracy and freedom parade marches by. I mean I can appreciate the pageantry but the music can be a bit loud. And China, like almost the entire world, has issues that will be dealt with in the traditional manner. Cause pitchforks may be obsolete as a technology of change but the idea of behind their use remains as cogent as ever.