Why the “western” qualifier? Which eastern or southern service would you trust?

It seems a bit like a fool’s errand to buy a phone running an advertiser’s OS and then try to stop it from tracking you.

We only know what ends up in our eyes and ears and while some of us have the ability to remember and cross check and actively hunt for info and compare most of us don’t have the inclination or time.

Unless/until we put algorithmic feeds back in a box we’re due for a new dark age.

Who on earth wants more people on the road?

Everyone should be against mandatory rto especially those that cannot work remotely and have to commute, such as labourers.

Caitlin Johnston has had some insane takes over the years and constantly parrots Russian propaganda, even as Russia was invading Ukraine and up to now.

I don’t care if us drones are actually getting destroyed but given how naive a lot of Caitlin’s takes are I would want a second and third source confirmation before believing this.

My point is that the premise of the article is untrue - harking to a past that never was.

Don’t church bells shove advertising down your ears? How about if I open a competing church with louder bells? What if I open a donut shop and I ring bells to notify you that a fresh batch is ready?

“No more bells then”, cool.

How about mosques? No bells, just a guy screaming from a tall balcony. And another and another.

Even in communist Russia you had propaganda ads everywhere.

There are plenty of ways currently of blocking most ads out of online media anyway - though underhanded means like product placement etc still sip through.

The idea that advertising is a new invention is nonsense.

Yes, it had different forms but it was there.

Eg: What are the priests if not sales people and what are the Sunday bells if not calls to action, and what are the icons and statues if not aspirational advertising and fomo?

What are shop windows? What are branding marks?

Here is advertising in Ancient Rome