Friday, January 09, 2015
Not new
The tech commies and the Repooflicans are united in their hatred of the Post Office. Both insist that it's better to let Google and Twitter handle all of our communications.
Nope. For the class of jobs that are traditionally done by governments, private monopolies are always worse than public monopolies.
Consider the current furor about cyberstalking. Celebrities and would-be celebs are barraged by threats of death and violence. There's no clear and definite way to handle this, because Twitter and Google and other carriers have separate rules, often designed to fit EU norms. This means that speech promoting religious belief is harshly punished, while speech that doesn't invoke religion is okay.
Stalking of celebrities is not new at all. It's always been around. Louella Parsons discussed it in 1947:
I'm on my soapbox tonight to praise the Hollywood studios for the manner in which they protect their players from poison-pen letters. There isn't an important star who hasn't been a victim of threatening or obscene notes. But these letters never reach them because they are immediately turned over to the postal authorities. Case in point: for months Rita Hayworth didn't know that the FBI was searching for a man who threatened to throw acid in her face and kidnap her child unless he was paid off. On the other hand, sincere and genuine letters are always given to the stars.One part of the picture is constant. Stars within the modern equivalent of the studio system have an equivalent filtering arrangement. But semi-celebs who are operating on their own have a problem that didn't exist in 1947. They can't simply tell the 'postal authorities' and get action. They have to handle an unlimited number of legal and semi-legal communication channels. Basic point: When government functions properly, its resources are equally available to rich and poor. When government hands basic tasks off to corporations, only the rich are protected. ¶ 3:35 AM
