As IF Times

Source: Meet Facebooks Libra, a digital currency for the social network – CBS News

Hopefully this ‘invention’ will be like New Coke; a product in search of an audience.  As the pervasive creep of the big social media networks is allowed to reach further into our lives, digital currency is apparently the next frontier for them.  It’s all about convenience for the customers they’ll say…what can go wrong?

This is backwards evolution of the financial system.  Over a century ago, many different banks would issue notes that were only fungible at their outlets; others were not accepted. With the passage of time, the nation evolved to create a common coin of the realm so that the currency could be used anywhere in the country.  This was the ultimate form of freedom and democracy since your money was as good as the next guy’s.  Someone could refuse your business but they certainly would not refuse your money.

This concept extrapolated to the credit system as credit cards were able to extend the reach of a consumer society by eliminating the hassle of carrying around bundles of cash.  Cash and its related credit card transactions were agnostic to consumers and vendors.  The rise of the influence of large social media companies introduces a new dynamic to this agnostic system.

As we are aware, corporations now wade boldly into the social justice business, ‘encouraging’ but actually pushing social ‘values’ which they deem to be acceptable.  You practically need a portable spreadsheet to determine which company is pro or against some issue.  Issues such as animal rights, fair trade practices, LGBT issues, environmental concerns, civil rights and of course political leanings now enter into the routine of making a simple  purchase.  It’s now difficult to buy something and not be given a side serving of sanctimony. Hey man, I just want to buy a coffee, I don’t need a lecture on global warming.

Thus far, this PC landscape has been only a minor annoyance as you are still free to do your business while controlling your eye rolls.  The issuance of online currency will move the control of the very many to the hands of a very small few to a whole new level.  Think about it.  If your online presence offends the sensibilities of those that monitor these kinds of things (and they do monitor this stuff), then they could conceivably deny your access to your digital money.  If you’ve said something online which offended  the accepted zeitgeist of the ‘community’, you can be blackballed.

This is not some unwarranted paranoia.  In fact, large banks have already decided to ban businesses that are active in the firearms industry.  If banks, which are quasi utilities can do that, why wouldn’t actual utility companies be able to deny you service because you wanted to buy rib eye steaks and they happened to be PETA supporters?  Why couldn’t they deny you service because you didn’t recycle?  We can easily see the logical extension of big brother monitoring your spending habits based on your on line persona.  Anyone remember the ‘big brother” apple advertisements from the ’80’s?  George Orwell wrote prescient dystopian warning satire during the 1930’s and eerily, the social network behemoths have taken his writings to be operations manuals.

We can never completely stop the emergence of Dr. Evils; unfortunately, it’s a part of human nature.  What people can do however is not willingly submit to the dystopian world they plan for us.  They can reject the social pressure to be a cog in someone’s digital empires.  They can reject the pressure to conform by their unthinking peers.  As in The Matrix films, be Neo, reject the agent Smiths.  Use cash.

Source: Nude models gather in NYC to protest Facebook and Instagram’s female nipple ban | Fox News

Protests have been an essential part of the fabric of any society for as long as there have been societies.  They arise because of a grievance that a subset of the population bears at the hands of the greater society.  There have been all kinds of manifestations to exhibit disgruntlement.  In the very extreme cases, people have inflicted self harm by setting themselves on fire as happened recently in front of the Whitehouse and in previous times by Buddhist monks unhappy with political regimes.  The standard form of protest is the wielding of signs and marching and chanting.  Nowadays, most of these signs have spelling errors and the chants are a real stretch, artistically speaking.

One form of protest has been around for hundreds of years and perhaps had its root with the nude horseback ride of the famous Lady Godiva in the 11th century of England.  Lady Godiva was actually a noblewoman who sympathized with the plight of her people that suffered under an oppressive tax regime imposed by her husband, the Earl of Coventry.  The legend goes that the Earl agreed to reduce the taxes if Godiva would ride through the town naked on horseback.  She did so and accordingly, the Earl kept his word. Based on the apparent effectiveness of that nude protest, that tactic has survived to this day as a form of civil protest.

But times have changed, to say the least.  Whereas in the 11th century, when an exposed ankle was scandalous, public nudity certainly held an element of shock.  In today’s ribald world,  nudity has hardly any shock value at all. When nudity of all kinds can be accessed literally by a few flicks of the finger on electronic devices, are there still people out there who are titillated by a nude body?  I’m unsure of how public opinion can be swayed by virtue of having to view a bunch of naked women.  It’s an odd expression of protest since there is no consequence if no behaviors are changed.  Burning of cars and buildings, sure, but mass nudity? Seems iffy to me.  It’s kind of the adult version of holding your breath as a kid until you got your way.

We live in a time when overt exhibitionism is on display everywhere you look.  From various extreme hair colors not found on any natural species on earth; to piercings of body parts that would be considered horrific torture in most societies; to gargantuan facial and body tattoos, the bar level of shock value of the human condition is pretty high.  Simple nudity doesn’t budge the needle at all.  That is not to say that some things aren’t worth fighting for.  If Kate Upton were to ‘protest’ the consumption of red meat for example, people  might be persuaded to hear her out.  But I’m guessing it may take a long time to convince most men.