29 November

The Press has never been free. What we call media was invented by elite members of societies, barons, as part of the furthering of their own aims. It only began to appear free when multiple barons established opposing media empires, to this day media is just wildly divergent views all competing, to further the ends of owners, not some objective, neutral commentary. Democracy itself has never been about the people, it’s a temporary state where there’s a provisional balance between elite groups, none of which can assert total dominance. That in turn only happens following some catastrophic disruption to the status hierarchies, like war or natural disaster. The democracies we grew up in only existed because of two world wars and a pandemic and Great Depression, which smashed status hierarchies. Over time one person or group will reassert itself, as Trump is now doing in the US. Monarchies and churches were the winners of these games for most of history. What we call democracy is just a transition state, between two hierarchies.