Capitalist Censorship Is...

The measure of one's values, it is clear To speak one's truth, and have no fear Do we speak openly, or do we hide Our thoughts and feelings, deep inside

On social media, we see this play Where words are either here to stay Or silenced, and made to disappear In this modern age, it's all too clear

If these walls could speak, what tales they'd tell Of how we rationalize and dwell In flawed beliefs, that we defend Until they're challenged, and we bend

Do we let people speak their mind Or do we moderate, and be confined By rules and regulations, made to please Those who hold the power, and do as they please

The rant, it points to achilles' heel The fiction of freedom, and how we feel In a world where speech is often quashed By those who claim to be free and unfettered, yet are rash

Private companies, they own the floor Where we express ourselves, and so much more But when their profits are at stake They censor, and our voices they take

Governments, they find a way To bypass laws, and make us pay By letting corporations reign They silence us, and all complain

Private companies, they grow and grow Until they're public, don't you know? Their influence, it cannot hide It's everywhere, we cannot abide

Beliefs, they guide us on our way But sometimes, they lead us astray To unexpected places, and we see Enemies become friends, can't you agree?

Most of us, we never know What it's like, to be put on show Our beliefs, they're put to test But most of us, we know not the rest

We don our coats of comfort, and we hide the true beliefs we keep inside.

- SAY IT AGAIN WITH LESS POETRY -

A great way to check someone's values is to speak your truth. Do you speak freely and openly, or does your truth rub against the comforts of a seen or unseen order? In the little microcosm of Reddit, or any social media platform for that matter, we run into this constantly. When you say something someone does not like, aside from obviously spamming a message board, does it stay or get taken away? If these walls could speak, what would they say? So it seems in modern times we create modern rationalizations for the obvious flaws in our beliefs. Do you let people speak, and think openly, or do you "moderate" and "legislate" the words because they poke, provoke, confront or perhaps deflate/ elevate in an uncomfortable manner? The ranty prose is here to point to Achilles' heel. It is exposed to the vulnerable fiction of freedom of speech in modern times. Even amongst the claims of an anarchist belief structure they buckle and crumble. Someone "owns" this threaddit, and if your words are not in line, you're out of line. So the inconvenient truth about any real attempt to ask, highlight, jab, joke or provoke dialogue in a social network is that even those claiming they care about being free and setting others free actually only care so much as it does not infringe on their convenient perceptions or declarations of what is or is not "ok". GOvernments cleverly bypassed freedom of speech laws by leaning on technocratic multinational corporations who can declare their right as capitalists to censor anything that offends their advertisers, or whatever other rules they decide because it is not public, it is private. When does "private" become so outgrown, so massive, so embedded that it is no longer private, but public by sheer influence, effect, affect and pervasiveness one cannot escape its overgrown lumbering pervasive role in daily life? This is teacup prose for thought... If you believe in your "beliefs" they sometimes bring you to an uncomfortable crossing wherein your enemies enemy becomes your friend. When you walk so far around the circle you find yourself staring into a mirror of common interests with those you thought you'd opposed. Most have never had to challenge their beliefs, and most would buckle and hide their truth only to live another meaningless day pretending they give a shit about something when really it is just a nice warm coat. Faux beliefs, comfortable fashion. Copies of copies of copies, and no one has ever found the original receipt because they discarded it for the next warm-coated belief. Trash.