We all know that the internet is a product of US military agencies. Yet, the default idea is that the internet means (more or less) free flow of information and a good thing in general.
But is that so? Could it be that the internet was just another con from the get go? Just a bit longer one than the rest of them. After all, we've seen it before.
For example, smartphones. At the start it was all fun and games. Then it got a bit more serious, but still nice and cool. And now it has turned into opressive slave device, with constant suveillance, that is almost compulsory to have and quite hard to live without.
Is the internet any different? It started as this highway of information, rainbows and unicorns and all that. But now it gets more and more censored, more and more oppressive with each passing day. If current trend continues, at the end it will be nothing more than totally controlled tool of oppression. Could it be that that was its design from the very beginning?
The real problem is when you reach the point where society has adopted the change itself and you cannot even stop without fundamentally having a different experience from the rest of the society.
Yes, that's a good point. Not having a smartphone in 2010 was not a big deal. Even in 2015 not having one was ok. Not having one today, however, is a whole different matter. You can't simply not have it anymore. These days not having it means a statement.