Goodbye, Facebook

          "There comes a time when a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do” (John Wayne?) and, corny context notwithstanding, the adage rings true enough. I returned from campervanning in Northumberland to find that the barber and the gym had both reopened so, after getting a decent haircut and resuming my minimal fitness routine, I resolved that that the time had come for this man to bite the bullet and quit Facebook. It may not seem a momentous decision, but I did have to do it – even if it is more symbolic than practical. Quitting is a visible token of my disapproval of monopolistic practices and the threat they pose to democracy.

          Let me explain. At the end of the 19^th century, free-market capitalism in the USA ran rampant. For example, Rockefeller’s Standard Oil obliterated almost all competition by methods so ruthless that public outrage had to be assuaged and legislation was introduced, eventually, to curb monopolistic practices. Known as anti-trust laws, they were subsequently strengthened and enforced until the 1960s, when a certain school of free-market economists undermined their validity, notwithstanding the irony that when competition is eliminated by monopolies, the market can no longer be described as “free”.

          But the consequences of monopolistic practices are much more far-reaching than the consolidation of profit and the excessive extraction of value. Ultimately, they are political. In an address to Congress in 1938, Roosevelt warned, “The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in essence, is Fascism – ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power.” He would have been aware of the supporting evidence: the Nazis encouraged the buildup of big industrial cartels, which returned the favour by supporting the party with Hitler at its head. You don’t have to squint to see that this scenario resembles the one that exists right now in the USA, so-called “land of the free” and defender of western democratic ideals.

          But, you say, I am shooting from the hip. Why not also boycott Amazon, or Apple, or Google – valid targets all? Well, to some extent, I do (with a scattergun) but all aspects of life outside a monastery involve compromise and I, too, want a slice of modern technology. Also, I have tasted Facebook’s blood! When certain advertisers withdrew their custom from the platform because of its reluctance to edit and  limit the spread of hate speech, the share price dropped and the company was obliged to act. Corporations do not possess a conscience. They feel pain only through their profit and loss accounts. Loss of revenue is anathema. And, although Facebook users are not, strictly speaking, paying customers, they are a valued asset. If and when they leave, the company will feel further pain.

          Ah, you say, but have you not shot yourself in the foot? How will you keep in touch with friends and family? Well (assuming I do want to stay in touch with them) there are still postal and telephone services. And as for tracking down those long-lost friends, well, if I have “lost” them it will probably be due to negligence and a lack of application to the art of friendship on my part. Likewise, some of said friends.

          The western democratic tradition is being eclipsed by the rising power of kleptocrats and autocrats, aided and abetted by monopolistic corporations whose profits are sheltered from tax in havens that are facilitated by their accommodating politicians. Why else do tax havens exist? We still have some freedoms of action, some choices, some opportunities so, before they are further diminished, we should use them to good avail. It’s sundown in the West: showdown time, gunslingers.