Argentina to suspend RT from national broadcasting

You're mostly right on number one.

I am aware of the "secret" programs you are referring to. They want to be able to manipulate online polls, automatically use upvotes/downvotes/likes, manipulate Facebook newsfeeds/Google search results to control people's emotions. That's all scary shit, I get it. Not to mention they can access your devices and intercept your communications. These are not, however, the scariest weapons ever invented. It used to be the government would pull you out of your home and have you spray metal at the folks from the neighboring country. Then we were all worried about getting nuked. The fact that you are now being propagandized both isn't new, and is in some way an improvement. Whatever you think, it's the new normal. We need a nuclear program because the game theory of MAD is not stable unless both players have them. Warfare today is about computer hacking, financial market manipulation, and propaganda. If we unilaterally disarm, we lose. The Chinese desperately want to convince the world to abandon democracy. With superior information warfare, they'll succeed. ISIS would like to convince our teens to fight in Syria. Saudi Arabia wants to seed Islamic extremism the world over. Russia wants convince us the West is just as corrupt as they are, to soften our opposition to their land grabs. That means we need, gasp, ways to investigate people for connections to foreign intelligence agencies. Good ways, like hacking phones, because there isn't going to be a fucking semen stain leading to the bad guy. Left unchecked, our enemies will convince the world we are Satan (like they've convinced you), and rally them into isolating and threatening us. pro-American propaganda defends against that threat. Nobody at the NSA will ever read your messages. They're looking for terrorists and spies, not edgy Reddit posters. This isn't about empowering our corporate overlords either. This isn't about busting people for pot posession. This isn't about handing the primary to Hillary Clinton. This isn't about transforming America into an Orwellian dystopia where free thought is banned. It's about weaponizing information, computers, and money to fight a battle that isn't bullshit.

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