

The new tools of democracy

(Image by Matt Wilson) Details DMCA

u've been listening to the newscasters and pundits, they're working that false meme of #OccupyWallStreet lacking focus and clear goals. You may be incredibly frustrated by this, and that's probably what inspired you to read this post and many other contributions about #OccupyWallStreet by bloggers and citizen journalists.

It's no wonder why #OccupyWallStreet is getting such bad press . A media that fawns at the feet of advertising Mammon will quickly sell out the truth.

As I write this, countless journalists are taking calls and reading emails from corporate public relations hacks whose only job is to control the narrative.

The same corporations that manipulated the world's finances for their own benefit also seek to undermine media integrity. This Kleptocracy will do whatever it takes to annihilate #OccupyWallStreet and it doesn't take much of its collective wealth to do so.

There is no greater threat to democracy than the unbridled access that corporations have over our media. There are no guns, no bombs, no armies as lethal to the spirit of the American people as the two-headed colossus of corporate wealth and media influence.

The Kleptocracy would not be spending its resources decrying #OccupyWallStreet if it did not feel threatened. It knows the demonstrations need to be squashed because of their potential of reaching a critical mass and ending a dynasty.

The Kleptocracy peers into its Waterford Crystal ball and sees its ruin. It sees the specter of 99 Percent arming itself with a newer and more powerful media; the Internet and all the democracy its tools bring. It sees a simple app like Twitter becoming the conduit through which information flows to and from Zuccotti Park. It sees Twitter's usefulness in establishing a support infrastructure for the protest. Demonstrators with information know they can tweet it bring it to wider attention. And once out on the Twitter flux, any relevant news is retweeted again and again until it becomes mainstream information. As it was during the Arab Spring, Twitter is the great uniter of the masses.

It has been evident for for some time to the Kleptocracy that this was one critical part of the media that they still don't control. And while we mobilize online, it has already scouted the terrain and is maneuvering to make it a yet another minefield of deceit, containment, and censorship.

I am speaking of the desire to kill Network Neutrality . For the uninitiated, Network Neutrality is about equal access to the Internet. It's the concept that Internet users should control the content they access and applications they consume. It is how the Internet has operated from its foundation.

The Kleptocracy wants to restrict Internet access, and they're shepherding legislation through Congress to this end. The elimination of Network Neutrality will give it control of the tools, the access, and the substance; stifling the voice of the people. Our communications with each other will be restricted. The Kleptocracy needs to smother Network Neutrality to maintain the status quo and it's goading its paid-for politicians in Washington to make it happen.

The abolition of Network Neutrality is alike the concept of telephone carriers telling consumers who they can call, what they can say, and how long they can talk. In fact, the Internet could cease to be a collaborative media, as the domain of self-publishing will be drown out by the monolithic media giants as it has been in broadcast. If the Kleptocracy prevails, it will mark the end of freedom of speech and assembly as it known by our newest generations.

More than 40 years ago, a prophetic Gil Scott-Heron wrote "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." If we don't succeed now, the next revolution might not be tweeted. There may be no "next time" for this movement.