link to original reddit post by /u/Openworldgamer47
I just wanted to say this briefly. Just discovered this community, grateful to see some likeminded people.
Quoting from my recent comment ~
What happens when corporations that regulate our civilization's continued functioning start impressing their ideological beliefs on us under the guise of "private enterprise"?
I've found that the lowest common denominator of this authoritarian trend is not government, nor is it corporate executives, or even corporations themselves. It's the orthodoxy, the proponents of this ideology, leveraging their collective financial influence over corporations, to usurp power and distort their intentions.
We see this with recent manipulation of state government.
Coca-Cola has said it was disappointed with the outcome in Georgia and would press for improvements to election laws
Corporations, by virtue of appropriating these ideologues through coercion, and therefore becoming machines of social pressure, have started pressuring state governments to change policy, by threatening to deprive them of their services, and therefore harm them economically. Which is ironic, considering that's where this all began.
Once these monopolies act in unison, then our civil liberties start to lose relevance. I think we should closely examine and appreciate the amount of power these corporations can exercise over "we the people" and respond appropriately.
I think our founding fathers would be remiss to learn that corporations (not government) ended up enslaving all of us in the end, considering their infatuation with the concept of government tyranny.
Most power is now centralized within private industries, especially after the industrial revolution, especially with small business dying like flies because of pandemic measures which these corporations enthusiastically advocate for. Corporations have never been more powerful. Over the last year almost every small business in America has died by virtue of government regulations. All of that wealth has ascended to the higher echelons of our corporatocracy.
Let's use social media as an example to demonstrate my argument further. I'm just guessing based on the perception of the vaccine passports I have observed so far, most here are likely concerned about censorship online.
Corporations ultimately control all speech in America now, since speech is now almost exclusively conducted online. Now be mindful; This is without significant government influence. Yes, they lobby the government, they have infiltrated our government, but the market conditions we've found ourselves in simply didn't exist 5 years ago. Even though the same environment existed. What we're observing is an ideological revolution, with this immensely powerful movement exercising their economic power to hijack these institutions on a massive scale.
Quote from the Biden administration
White House expects the private sector to drive "a determination or development of a vaccine passport, or whatever you want to call it."
This was a strategic decision. Biden's administration acknowledged they couldn't facilitate this agenda without every freedom loving American rioting. Operating towards the same exact end goal though, they have started advocating for its implementation privately. This is not arbitrary. This is a continuous trend. These vaccine passports will be ubiquitous in 6 months, and we will be forced to get vaccinated, or risk social ostracization and unemployment. We must understand that tyranny might very well be coming from government, but it might finally be enforced through private industry using social pressure.
The influence is coming from the lowest classes of society. As far as authoritarian trends go, this is highly unusual. America is unambiguously (with ferocity) descending into tyranny. Culture has not changed with the expedience it's changing now at any point in American history. But the harbingers of this are not originating from government. They are originating from an ideology, a social movement, financial coercion, and ultimately private industry.