Question. How do you get people who inevitably repeat this nonsense to feel shame and ridicule for actually going along with it uncritically, assuming you can’t get them to dismiss the idea out of hand.
Its not going to be about explaining what Marxism really is because if YOU know what Marxism is, then you MUST be a Marxist.
This is going to show up on my FB feed soon I’m sure, I’m thinking of pointing out that Net neutrality is the way things are (more or less) right now, and ask if that’s Marxist and that this would also make the telephone system Marxist because that’s the sort of regulation that needs to be applied to the internet.
But there are some pretty smart people out there who probably have better “talking points” than mine.
Yeah, it is to be expected that modern-day robber barons would set their toadies against net neutrality. It is natural for them to want to demand bribes and kickbacks to get “preferred” service. I have noted them trying to turn the term “public utility” into an epithet, as if treating internet access like telephone access would be something bad.
What does seem encouraging is how quickly the shell game that is used to obfuscate the Koch origins is getting exposed, and how exposing their sleazy sociopathy is making them uncomfortable in their billionaire beds.
Except all those dang Nouveau riche from the tech generation whose business models depend on people getting unfettered access to data (or them getting unfettered access to yours).
Well, some yes, others might just be tickled pink at the idea of keeping the Fast Lane for themselves and thus starve the competition, if it weren’t for the fact that they would have to share profits with those pesky middlemen.
Also, there is nothing to say that the oil transported down to the gulf will be ultimately used by people in the U.S. If an oil company can sell it to a country that is willing to pay more, they will. The oil companies want the most flexibility to sell their oil where it makes them the most money. That may not alway be here. The deregulation of electricity in states like Montana allowed energy companies to sell locally generated electricity to place like California, where the price was artificially inflated by companies shutting down production to drive up the price. Prices in Montana skyrocketed. The Keystone XL is not about protecting anything other than oil company profits.
Explain how that would work, keeping in mind the fact that we will laugh at you if by “competition” you mean “hardworking small-business/media-conglomerate who is not allowed to muscle in, take over, and do whatever the fuck it wants.”
