Human-Nature-Progress-Random-Thoughts-Bob Davis Podcast 875

Winter Is Here…Already

I think it’s time to talk about a more reflective season. Winter is here in Minnesota. Even though it’s only Veterans Day, it’s winter. More time spent reading, streaming TV and more. We’ll talk about it in Human-Nature-Progress-Random-Thoughts-Bob Davis Podcast 875.

Two Recent Podcasts Highlighted

First of all I have to start with a review of my two recent podcasts with Congressman Tom Emmer. You can listen to them here and here. At one point in posting content on social media, I mentioned those two podcasts would be impossible on the radio today.

Mission Of The Bob Davis Podcasts

Moreover it reminds of me the mission of the Bob Davis Podcasts these days. Especially relevant is the need to say, and say again, I am not driven by wanting to be in a specific political or social construct.

Biggest Problem In Media Today

In addition it is necessary for me to say not only do I not want to be a ‘this or that’, I think the biggest problem in media today is most of the commentators, reporters, and so called analysts seem to need and want to come from a partisan perspective.

Some People Need Acceptance…Apparently

I think it is the wanting, even more the need to be accepted by some group. Learn more in Human-Nature-Progress-Random-Thoughts-Bob Davis Podcast 875.

Playing To The Crowd

Furthermore playing to an audience adds to the problem.

Say What We Want To Hear

Audiences expect content creators to say certain things. To defend or attack to shore up expectations. To say what they want to hear.

Not My Mission

Of course this is not my mission. My mission is to progress. To be decidedly unpredictable. To refuse a side. Ask questions. Advance the story. Artists progress, sometimes to the dismay of their audiences. Think Picasso, or even Elton John’s changes in style critics did not necessarily liike.

Don’t Follow. Lead!

Sometimes you have to lead the audience.

Human Progress?

I also thought a lot recently about human consciousness. Whether we are making progress. You hear a lot of talk these days about how much progress human beings are supposedly making.

You’ll have to listen to the podcast to get an idea of what I think.

Confusion

Finally the question of the progress of human consciousness leads me to wonder how we got where we are today. So much confusion about who’s right and wrong, what direction works, failing institutions and new ideas.

From Podcasts To The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald In This Podcast

Therefore it is a fitting random discussion that takes us from recent podcasts to The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald, the role of artists, and more.

I had a lot of fun with this one.

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Human-Nature-Progress-Random-Thoughts-Bob Davis Podcast 875

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Free Speech-Social Media-Bob Davis Podcast 829

Facebook Bans

Lots of talk about social media and free speech these days. Facebook just banned several top content creators. Learn more in Free Speech-Social Media-Bob Davis Podcast 829.

Byzantine Policies For Advertising

My personal struggles with Facebook’s byzantine rules for advertising my podcasts is especially relevant. In addition I provide some ways to circumvent the rules I am sure the Russians have already figured out.

Who Decides What Free Speech Is?

Moreover the question of whether the constitution or a company determines free speech, is key.

Alex Jones and Louis Farrakahn…Strange Bedfellows

Facebook banned Louis Farrakhan Alex Jones, Paul Nehlan, Mllos Yiannapoulis, Paul Joseph Watson and Laura Noomer last week. Twitter banned actor James Woods. Who’s next?

Russia Russia Russia

Some say this all started with Charlottesville a couple of years ago. Even more alleged Russian ‘election tampering’ through social media has really got the social media companies running scared.

Silicon Valley In The Dog House

A litany of testimony in front of House and Senate committees from big Internet companies and the threat of antitrust enforcement have Silicon Valley billionaires shaking in their sneakers. In a way I almost feel sorry for them. Politicians used to love social media. Now Zuckerberg’s in the doghouse. Details in Free Speech-Social Media-Bob Davis Podcast 829.

Opinions Are Suddenly Frightening and Dangerous

Consequently one wonders whether people in this country will ever be able to hear an opinion they don’t agree with, without being ‘triggered‘, or thinking there’s an international conspiracy against them.

What’s A Mother To Do?

Certainly users can block, mute or unfollow unsavory characters and people they don’t agree with.

However this isn’t enough.

Gag Them! Shun Them! How Dare People Express Opinions I Do Not Agree With!

As the result of their crimes, offenders must be gagged. Even more, permanently prevented from having their say. This is the corporate version of free speech, backed by a roiling mob.

Try Banning The Backlash

Finally the real truth is you can ban someone from expressing their opinions or entertaining, but you can’t ban the backlash. Sooner or later competitors to these companies will emerge. Content Creators will find other platforms.

In conclusion and in defense of Facebook, getting them to let me advertise podcasts has been clunky and frustrating…

Not impossible.

Moreover some of the worst trolls hide behind anonymity. In this sense, I can understand why ‘registration’ and ‘authentication’ is now part of the process for media businesses on some platforms.

No Longer A Democracy

There will be challenges to gaggings. Some of those challenges will be based on the first amendment and perhaps equal protection clauses of the fourteenth amendment.

And there should be.

I may not agree with your crazy conspiracy theory or your opinion, but I defend your right to tell the world about it.

Without free speech, we are no longer a democracy or if you prefer a representative republic.

THAT is truly terrifying.

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Free Speech-Social Media-Bob Davis Podcast 829

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Podcast 436

Death and Tyranny. How’s that for click bait? Another protest, more glimpses of the French Revolution as an assistant professor throws ‘the media’ out of a protest on public property at a University in Missouri. Meanwhile a new study says white americans 30 to 64 are dying from alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide at alarmingly higher rates than in the past. Frustration. Anger. Despair. Name calling. Blaming. The first few years of the 21st century seem to be calling out for a new defense of ‘Freedom’. What is Freedom? Are we free? Are we free when we can’t express feelings without checking first to see if they will ‘offend’ some group with ‘special’ protections? Are we free when we have to make sure what we express is in line with paradigms determined by social acceptance? Not according to most definitions. So, are we free? What holds the United States together? A common enemy? An idea? A leader? A culture? A religion? A government? How can we hold together as a country if we aren’t allowed to express ourselves, to be ourselves? Over 60 percent of working age people are out of the work force. People are getting tired of being nudged, pushed, shoved, forced, shamed and cudgeled into behaviors the government wants, or behaviors deemed ‘acceptable’ by unelected culture czars, crowned by their exposure in media. We don’t trust our government. We don’t trust our leaders. We don’t trust the media. We don’t trust each other. If studies that show people descending into alcoholism and drugs and depression are true, one could conclude, we don’t trust ourselves either. When you travel the country, it doesn’t look like its falling apart, but any examination of the day’s news suggests something different. Political candidates slinging mud, name calling, finger pointing and the ever present blaming and subsequent atonement. Our entertainment is blood and gore, and sex. In short, our entertainment is coarse to say the least. What future is our art seeing? What kind of frontier are we pioneering today? Where is our toughness and virtue, and grit? Sponsored by X Government Trucks and Hydrus.

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