Guideposts: Private Vices in Public Places

You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive our free e-letter Gilder's Guideposts, or you purchased a product or service from its publisher, Eagle Financial Publications. [Gilder Guideposts] [Technology Report]( [Tech Report PRO]( [Moonshots]( [Private Reserve]( Guideposts: Private Vices in Public Places by George Gilder and Richard Vigilante 03/13/2024 SPONSORED CONTENT [BREAKING: Elon Musk's Secret A.I. Project Set to Plunge Millions of Americans Into Poverty]( Luke Lango, one of America's leading investors, just released shocking footage outside of the Tesla Gigafactory, in Austin, Texas. What's happening behind the scenes right here is set to change the course of humanity as we know it. McKinsey analysts are warning that the tech behind Elon Musk's new venture could throw 800 million workers worldwide into unemployment. Starting as early as this summer. But, like all of Elon's projects, it will also mint many millionaires in the process. [Click here now to prepare yourself for what's around the corner]( “For all that is secret will be revealed, and everything that is hidden will be brought to light.” Luke 8:17 The fight over whether big internet platforms such as Facebook (NASDAQ: META) and X may censor content posted by users is alleged to be an argument over First Amendment freedom of speech and the press. This is wrong. All the difficulties hinge, like so many social problems exacerbated by government, on the loss of agency, on the government creating pockets of irresponsibility in which people are not held accountable for their behavior. So, they behave viciously. At the root of the problem is Section 230 of the Communications Act, enacted in 1996, which protects internet providers—generally interpreted to include the platforms—from being held liable for content they carry but do not produce, such as your latest tweets about Taylor Swift or Dr. Fauci, or even Ms. Swift and Dr. Fauci. Section 230 exempts the platforms from being treated as “publishers,” making them mere carriers like the phone company or your internet provider. Without such protection, the platforms could be sued for publishing, say, libelous material, or false information that led to bodily harm. Social media, as we know it, would be impossible. Consider though, why social media as we know it, is so awful, a purveyor of vice and rage, online bullying and sexual predation, and, yes, disinformation. Much of the explanation is surely that Section 230, in relieving the platforms from responsibility, shifted that responsibility to… no one. [Millionaires Will Be Minted OVERNIGHT]( Legendary tech futurist who predicted the rise of Amazon, Netflix, and Apple YEARS in advance now says: “The biggest, most profitable technological advances in the future will ALL stem from this single breakthrough. Millionaires will be minted overnight.” [He’s revealing EVERYTHING here.]( SleeplessInSeattle or CluelessInCleveland are anonymous. If their online activity is criminal, that anonymity can be breached with a court’s permission. Against civil suits, however, Section 230 protects all sorts of nasty, anonymous speech. This is not a hard problem to solve. Needed is a responsible agent. If the venue is not responsible, then the author must be. Amend Section 230 so that Facebook et. al. is protected as a mere carrier for posts verifiably signed by the authors. But for anonymous posts, treat them as publishers responsible for that content. With their deep pockets at risk, the platforms would have powerful incentives to minimize anonymous posts. In our newspaper days, the rule was to publish the name of the correspondent and the town he lived in. We did not supply street addresses, so as not to enable harassment. The point was not to dox the writer but to discourage the bad behavior that anonymity encourages. It is anonymity that makes social media a cesspool of hate and lies. Little of even the worst content on social media would be actionable even without the protection of Section 230. For the posters, unlike the platforms, it would not be fear of a lawsuit that would restrain people from evil speech but shame. And shame is a wonderful thing. Shame makes a decent society possible. Anonymity destroys it. From every corner today, we hear complaints that our privacy is being taken away, and our traditional rights thereto lost to a networked society. The opposite is closer to the truth. Whole new rights of privacy are asserted for activity never considered private before. Entirely novel are rights to privacy in public places. [3 Steps for Surviving the "Perfect Storm" Market Crash]( Recent moves by the Fed could wipe out billions of dollars in the market…worse than the .com bubble, housing meltdown, or covid-crash combined. Navigating this requires more than gut instinct; it calls for the sophisticated edge that artificial intelligence trading software provides. [Learn to Protect Your Money Ahead of Any disastrous Event for FREE >]( Never in history have retail purchases, for instance, been anonymous. Customers shopped in public places: the clerk, the other customers waiting to be served, and no doubt your nosy neighbors all knew you had been shopping and often what you bought. In small towns, it was notorious that everyone knew everything. People fled to big cities not only for opportunity but for anonymity. It was precisely because of anonymity that cities were known as centers for vice and crime. Police forces were invented for cities. In no way does government more encourage vice and social dissolution than by suppressing information. The root of bureaucratic sin is the “form” stripping the particular insight, the human variables, and the possibility of judgment from every case. Bureaucracy renders the citizen anonymous, even as he signs his name. In our anonymous, bureaucratized lives, judgment itself is suspect as “prejudice,” which we have made the greatest sin. Judgments are always particular. Legislators make general laws; judges rule on cases. Bureaucracy blinds judgment. Loss of judgment can make any beneficent act a source of vice. Our welfare system destroys lives, families and neighborhoods because, unlike charity administered less formally by town or parish, benefits are doled out as entitlements based on readily formalized criteria. Not only the brain, but the heart, is excluded from the decision. The information needed to function was lost to a form. Socialism is a program for shifting agency from some newly discovered and favored victim to some alleged victimizer. Because suppressing information is essential to this effort—lest the victim be exposed as an agent of his own distress—the result often is to destroy agency entirely, creating a society of the irresponsible. The results are unattractive. Sincerely, [The Editors] George Gilder, Richard Vigilante, Steve Waite, and John Schroeter Editors, Gilder's Guideposts, Technology Report, Technology Report Pro, Moonshots, and Private Reserve About George Gilder: [George Gilder]George Gilder is the most knowledgeable man in America when it comes to the future of technology and its impact on our lives. He’s an established investor, bestselling author, and economist with an uncanny ability to foresee how new breakthroughs will play out, years in advance. George and his team are the editors of Gilder Technology Report, Gilder Technology Report Pro, Moonshots and Private Reserve. About Us: Eagle Financial Publications is located in Washington, D.C. – only a few blocks from the Capitol. Our products have been helping investors build their wealth for several decades. Whether you’re a long-term investor or short-term trader, you’ll find the right strategy for you, including how to earn more steady income to spend now, preserve and grow your capital to enjoy later, and whatever other investment goals you have. Visit Our Websites: - [StockInvestor.com]( - [DividendInvestor.com]( - [DayTradeSPY.com]( - [CoveredCall]( - [MarkSkousen.com]( - [GilderReport.com]( - [BryanPerryInvesting.com]( - [JimWoodsInvesting.com]( - [InvestmentHouse.com]( - [RetirementWatch.com]( - [SeniorResource.com]( - [GenerationalWealthStrategies.com]( - [InvestInFiveStarGems.com]( - [[YouTube] Visit our YouTube Channel - Eagle Investing Network]( To ensure future delivery of Eagle Financial Publications emails please add financial@info2.eaglefinancialpublications.com to your address book or contact list. View this email in your [web browser](. This email was sent to {EMAIL} because you are subscribed to George Gilder's Guideposts. To unsubscribe please click [here](. If you have questions, please send them to [Customer Service](mailto:customerservice@eaglefinancialpublications.com). Legal Disclaimer: Any and all communications from Eagle Products, LLC. employees should not be considered advice on finances. Although our employees may answer your general customer service questions, they are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular investment situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized advice on finances. Eagle Financial Publications - Eagle Products, LLC. - a Salem Communications Holding Company 122 C Street NW, Suite 515 | Washington, D.C. 20001 [Link](