Citizen Journalism as Disruptive Technology
Battling the rise of the censorship-industrial complex
A new hypothesis about why all our sensemaking institutions seem to be failing at the same time. @alexandrosM
We often lament how seemingly every body whose job it is to figure out the truth -- media, academic journals, doctors, courts, universities, even the military, seem to have lost the plot at right about the same time, and are not even trying to do their job, instead behaving first and foremost as defenders of an emergent narrative. On occasion I've mentioned that our culture is becoming aware of the construct of a "narrative" and is developing language and memes to describe its contours. When we talk about the "current thing", or the various "derangement syndrome(s)", or even about "disinformation"/"misinformation", or even "stochastic terrorism", what we're talking about is factors that contribute to, and are a result of, prevalent narratives.
What might have previously been highly specialized discourse between academics has broken through to the mainstream. So this is my hypothesis: for better or worse, people in positions of power, increasingly conscious of the narrative-shaping power of their words and actions, are now deciding what to do, consciously or subconsciously, taking into account not just whether the action is right, but also whether it will be helping or hurting the narratives they subscribe to. In other words, instead of the story emerging according to the facts, the facts emerge according to the prevailing story. This 2016 piece in the New York Times is emblematic of this newfound self-consciousness on behalf of journalists: https://archive.is/jb9vH Its final paragraph contains this gem:
https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/citizen-journalism-as-disruptive
New report denounces Havana and claims ‘campaign of subversion’ has infiltrated highest levels of US government
"...There is overwhelming evidence that the machinery of the Cuban Government has been progressively organized around… a fundamental hatred of the United States,” the report stated. “Many of the most significant upheavals in recent American political history —from the George Floyd riots to the rise of Antifa to the explosion of pro-terrorist activism on American college campuses— can be linked, in some way, shape, or form to Cuban influence.”
The report doesn’t just hand-wave. It names names. It details how the Venceremos Brigade and other “revolutionary tourism” programs have funneled thousands of American activists to Havana for ideological (and sometimes literal) weapons training.
The Venceremos Brigade has brought 10,000 American activists to Cuba since 1969. This is because nothing says “I am fighting for the oppressed working class” quite ...
Now there is a plan! Of course dumb Canadians will not have the courage to vote with their brains, instead of their propagandized feelings of fear.
Canada’s economy is stalling badly.
We just endured the worst decade for real GDP growth per person since the Great Depression.
Over the past ten years, real GDP per capita limped along at an average of just 0.6% annually.
And Bloomberg’s consensus forecast for 2026? A paltry 0.7%.
Why does GDP matter?
Because family disposable income follows GDP like a shadow. Anemic economic growth resulting from lower investment means stagnant wages. Period.
The Liberals and fake Conservatives won't fix this.
The People's Party has a comprehensive plan to unleash private investment, supercharge productivity, and put more money back into your pocket:
Make the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance (ACCA) permanent – Let businesses write off capital investments rapidly and skyrocket cash flow.
End Corporate Welfare – Zero subsidies. Zero bailouts. Zero regional ...
