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So yesterday I'm on the phone with @matthewstoller, asking him deep questions about his life, when the Facebook case drops.
Which is like texting with the pope when the Second Coming comes.
So I began to ask him about it, and he really made me think. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Which is like texting with the pope when the Second Coming comes.
So I began to ask him about it, and he really made me think. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
I'm gonna share some highlights.
But first of all, I should disclose that I did actually try to interview the pope instead, but he turned me down.
No offense to @matthewstoller.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
But first of all, I should disclose that I did actually try to interview the pope instead, but he turned me down.
No offense to @matthewstoller.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
What @matthewstoller helped me see, above all, is that monopoly is mistakenly thought of as a policy issue when in fact it represents an existential question of whether we are actually a democracy. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
If you want to understand this antitrust case, you have to understand what Facebook actually is, and most of us don't.
@matthewstoller breaks it down here.
"Facebook is a financial conglomerate."
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
@matthewstoller breaks it down here.
"Facebook is a financial conglomerate."
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
To unpack that, there are two socially destructive elements here.
There is the business model, which basically involves the eradication of newsgathering operations and local media, especially, as @matthewstoller points out, niche publications like Black-owned newspapers.
There is the business model, which basically involves the eradication of newsgathering operations and local media, especially, as @matthewstoller points out, niche publications like Black-owned newspapers.
So The New York Times and The Washington Post may survive the era, but publications serving particular communities will struggle because Facebook needs them to vanish. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
And instead of you reading them, Facebook wants you to read whatever will most keep you glued to Facebook, which is not news, not information, but whatever is most addictive, which tends to be "anti-social" content -- rumors, disinformation, and such. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
So before we go any further, @matthewstoller has elegantly explained that the mission and purpose and business model of Facebook are largely incompatible with your flourishing and my flourishing and democracy's flourishing.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
I asked @matthewstoller whether we'd really be better off if Facebook were broken up and there were, say, three companies behaving in this way.
Here's what he said.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Here's what he said.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
ANAND: Based on the history of such cases, would your assumption be that Facebook is broken up within a period of years?
MATT: Yes.
ALSO MATT: It's complicated.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
MATT: Yes.
ALSO MATT: It's complicated.
https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Every time I post about Facebook, a lot of you proudly respond about deleting and boycotting it.
I asked @matthewstoller what he thinks about that bottom-up, consumer-power approach.
"I think it's a bad vision of politics," he said. And he explains why. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
I asked @matthewstoller what he thinks about that bottom-up, consumer-power approach.
"I think it's a bad vision of politics," he said. And he explains why. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
What really made me think was when @matthewstoller challenged my thoughtless use of the word "issue" in discussing monopoly.
OK, Matt, if monopoly isn't an "issue," what is it? https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
OK, Matt, if monopoly isn't an "issue," what is it? https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Monopoly, @matthewstoller argues, isn't an issue the way healthcare is.
It's a worldview. It's a lens through which to examine power.
And it is an alternative to democracy rather than a policy question within democracy.
Because either there is private government or public.
It's a worldview. It's a lens through which to examine power.
And it is an alternative to democracy rather than a policy question within democracy.
Because either there is private government or public.
And you know this line of his resonated with me deeply:
"As a society, the way we do business is the way we do justice."
Write that one on your forearm. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
"As a society, the way we do business is the way we do justice."
Write that one on your forearm. https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
And stay for the kicker:
"I do think that they have power. I just don't think they're secretly hypnotizing us. I think these people are — I’ll use a Zuckerberg quote about Twitter, which is a great quote — 'a clown car that fell into a gold mine.'" https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
"I do think that they have power. I just don't think they're secretly hypnotizing us. I think these people are — I’ll use a Zuckerberg quote about Twitter, which is a great quote — 'a clown car that fell into a gold mine.'" https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Read my full chat with @matthewstoller here: https://the.ink/p/we-can-have-democracy-or-we-can-have
Check out his book, "Goliath": https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Goliath/Matt-Stoller/9781501182891
Join his newsletter: https://mattstoller.substack.com
And subscribe to http://The.Ink if you want more conversations with people who make you think.
Check out his book, "Goliath": https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Goliath/Matt-Stoller/9781501182891
Join his newsletter: https://mattstoller.substack.com
And subscribe to http://The.Ink if you want more conversations with people who make you think.
