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Freedom and human rights weren't invented and aren't exclusive to America, as for spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny. You do

Freedom and human rights weren't invented and aren't exclusive to America, as for spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny. You do not currently have control over your culture and values, you said yourself you're glad America exported its values to your country and exposed you to them. Good or bad, it should be clear you're not living in a vacuum with absolute control over what you see and believe. If you adopt a free-market attitude to these questions you will end up being controlled by whoever has the most money and the worst morals, companies and people who will prey on our worst instincts, algorithms which reward anger and division, which prey on addiction triggers and so on. The content you consume will be controlled to present you with ideas, news and perspectives that are politically and economically advantageous to their country, and often contrary to the best interests of your own. And to be clear there is no dichotomy between the status-quo and censorship. There is a million alternatives, the Digital Markets Act for example is a good start that should begin to break up social monopolies and companies which abuse network effects. Digital sovereignty just means you make available alternative tools to your population which are free of foreign influence.

qikInNdOutReply 4y ago
The us is the biggest advocate though, and actually the most idealistic one. How idealistic they are, is visible in trade policies for example. The moment trump went back on free trade, all those mercantilist empires showed there true colors. Manufactured here, exported everywhere, just as it was practiced in Manchester centuries ago, allover. There are actually very few countries which are freedom and democracy avatars. And they can export culture within the us sphere (japan, south korea/ some european countries come to mind) freely. All other culture/value spheres, are quite supressive/ethno centric (china, russia), hiding behind a thin veneer of "external propaganda". The us secret service agencies interventions are a mess and the decay into a traditional empire is real, but overall, if you really look into other countries and cultures, its alot better, open, integrate the best of all worlds, then what you will find elsewhere. I especially started to despise the "hollow husk" disney world "freedom" image some dictatorships export. People fall for that nonsense all the time and its ridiculous. Some nice videos of dancing people and skyscrapers, without any visible dissent, do not make freedom.
safety1st 4y ago
> as for spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny Hang on, in which period of world history did the world enjoy more widespread peace and democratic rule than during Pax Americana? Or are you claiming that the most peaceful and democratic era of history happened in spite of the US, not in any way due to it? I don't have any objections to criticizing the US but my read on its history in this context is basically - once it expanded as far as it could militarily it decided the next best thing to do was build up a global network of nations it could trade with and make money off of. Those powers needed to be peaceful and stable so frequently ended up being democracies.
causi 4y ago
spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny. Has there been another nation in history that it was better to lose a war against rather than win? Compare Germany, Japan, South Korea to Vietnam, North Korea, Afghanistan. Perhaps the Achaemenid Empire also qualifies.
SuoDuanDao 4y ago
'Most money' I won't argue but I don't see how 'free market' leads to 'worst morals'. In a 'free market of ideas' people do their best to choose the best morals, some tomfoolery might make that harder to distinguish but people aren't helpless babes with no capacity for critical thought, and most of us rightly disdain empty virtue signaling.
- NayamAmarshe 4y ago
  > In a 'free market of ideas' people do their best to choose the best morals The problem is not this, the problem is morals and free market look like they shouldn't be in the same place. For example, Facebook controls majority of the social media traffic. People use them for reasons other than morality but Facebook itself is a deeply immoral company. So, free market is supporting an immoral idea because of amoral reasons and this is happening subconsciously.

qikInNdOutReply 4y ago

The us is the biggest advocate though, and actually the most idealistic one. How idealistic they are, is visible in trade policies for example. The moment trump went back on free trade, all those mercantilist empires showed there true colors. Manufactured here, exported everywhere, just as it was practiced in Manchester centuries ago, allover. There are actually very few countries which are freedom and democracy avatars. And they can export culture within the us sphere (japan, south korea/ some european countries come to mind) freely. All other culture/value spheres, are quite supressive/ethno centric (china, russia), hiding behind a thin veneer of "external propaganda". The us secret service agencies interventions are a mess and the decay into a traditional empire is real, but overall, if you really look into other countries and cultures, its alot better, open, integrate the best of all worlds, then what you will find elsewhere. I especially started to despise the "hollow husk" disney world "freedom" image some dictatorships export. People fall for that nonsense all the time and its ridiculous. Some nice videos of dancing people and skyscrapers, without any visible dissent, do not make freedom.

safety1st 4y ago

> as for spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny Hang on, in which period of world history did the world enjoy more widespread peace and democratic rule than during Pax Americana? Or are you claiming that the most peaceful and democratic era of history happened in spite of the US, not in any way due to it? I don't have any objections to criticizing the US but my read on its history in this context is basically - once it expanded as far as it could militarily it decided the next best thing to do was build up a global network of nations it could trade with and make money off of. Those powers needed to be peaceful and stable so frequently ended up being democracies.

causi 4y ago

spreading democracy I find the track record more horrific than corny. Has there been another nation in history that it was better to lose a war against rather than win? Compare Germany, Japan, South Korea to Vietnam, North Korea, Afghanistan. Perhaps the Achaemenid Empire also qualifies.

SuoDuanDao 4y ago

'Most money' I won't argue but I don't see how 'free market' leads to 'worst morals'. In a 'free market of ideas' people do their best to choose the best morals, some tomfoolery might make that harder to distinguish but people aren't helpless babes with no capacity for critical thought, and most of us rightly disdain empty virtue signaling.

NayamAmarshe 4y ago
> In a 'free market of ideas' people do their best to choose the best morals The problem is not this, the problem is morals and free market look like they shouldn't be in the same place. For example, Facebook controls majority of the social media traffic. People use them for reasons other than morality but Facebook itself is a deeply immoral company. So, free market is supporting an immoral idea because of amoral reasons and this is happening subconsciously.