> 80 million Americans now spend 20% of their free time scrolling through an algorithmic content experience owned by the Chinese Government. As opposed to a bi

> 80 million Americans now spend 20% of their free time scrolling through an algorithmic content experience owned by the Chinese Government. As opposed to a billion people spending 20% of their free time scrolling through a Facebook feed (back when Facebook was a thing). Honestly, the more these issues get raised, the more it's clear that there's really no difference between a government and a corporation except one spends money and the other makes money. We have been slowly moving into a post-Democratic version of globalism for decades. Consumerism is not a bulwark against oppression, and we've mostly only had the illusion of choice or control in our political process, with oligarchs deciding everything rather than the "δῆμος". Totalitarian empires have been the dominant model of human civilization for the past couple thousand years; there's no reason to believe it wouldn't continue. China will be leading the new global status quo, which will combine heightened entertainment with heightened totalitarianism. Orwell was a prophet, a century early.