I don't think so. Big Government uses Big Tech as a tool in its arsenal. There is no greater surveillance tool. Trying to keep them separated is like trying to keep Big Government separated from the Military Industrial Complex. They are two sides of the same coin.
That's what he's saying. He's not saying that Big Government and Big Tech are separated, he's saying that Big Government and Big Tech ought to be separated.
In the West we fight pretty hard to keep the Church and State separated, but this isn't a natural state of being. The Divine Right of Kings, the Pharoahs were gods, Sharia law, the Japanese Emperor is the direct descendant of Amaterasu, the Spanish Inquisition, etc etc etc. History is rife with Church and State being two sides of the same coin. In fact in recent years certain government leaders have been pretty effective at intertwining the US government with Christianity, despite the separation of Church and State being enshrined in the First Amendment; prayer in schools, the repeal of Roe v Wade, etc.
The link between big government and big tech (and big ag, big auto...) ought to be fought with similar gusto as we attempt to protect the separation we've won between church and state.
I think this misses the bigger problem. Much like the MIC, big tech is a matter of national security. If the USG doesn’t get involved with their own home grown tech companies, nothing is stopping other state powers from doing so.
Freedom of religion came at a time when long-distance communication traveled very slow, in a country with oceans for borders. In a typical (old world) situation religious consolidation makes sense for a state, religion is the only thing that significantly threatens state power besides other states. This was even more true 300 years ago. Today’s tech companies aren’t a challenger to state power; people mostly hate Mark Z. & Jeff B., rather tech is the very fabric that the state is made of.
> That's what he's saying. He's not saying that Big Government and Big Tech are separated, he's saying that Big Government and Big Tech ought to be separated.
Right, and I'm saying they can't be (as I said, two sides of the same coin).
I think this desire comes from a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of power. It's beyond wishful thinking.
