How the internet flips elections and alters our thoughts

This is a chilling essay based on proven research evidence that we are constantly being manipulated and controlled to make the choices in our leaders.  Of course, we all know the control of the media we see, like Fox and MSNBC, who clearly have their agendas and are pushing them.  But have we ever thought about how we are driven like sheep in certain directions according to our Google searches?  Read this article and get the creepy feeling that we have entered into the "Not-so Brave New World."  And think of the implications! The article tells us which of the Democratic candidates has the catbird seat in this election...you probably won't be surprised. That candidate has an inroad to Google that none of the others can match.

This article will make you ponder the power that large tech companies like Google and Facebook have to control us, from buying decisions to how we vote.  It's an excellent pass-along.  My son sent it to me and now I pass it along to you.  Life is certainly an educational process, with each new piece of information (now from Google and other search engines) taking us way beyond our previous innocent assumptions.  Are you feeling jaded yet???

https://aeon.co/essays/how-the-internet-flips-elections-and-alters-our-thoughts

EXCERPT:  As Edward Snowden's revelations made clear, we are rapidly moving toward a world in which both governments and corporations – sometimes working together – are collecting massive amounts of data about every one of us every day, with few or no laws in place that restrict how those data can be used. When you combine the data collection with the desire to control or manipulate, the possibilities are endless, but perhaps the most frightening possibility is the one expressed in Boulding's assertion that an 'unseen dictatorship' was possible 'using the forms of democratic government'.

We are living in a world in which a handful of high-tech companies, sometimes working hand-in-hand with governments, are not only monitoring much of our activity, but are also invisibly controlling more and more of what we think, feel, do and say. The technology that now surrounds us is not just a harmless toy; it has also made possible undetectable and untraceable manipulations of entire populations – manipulations that have no precedent in human history and that are currently well beyond the scope of existing regulations and laws. The new hidden persuaders are bigger, bolder and badder than anything Vance Packard ever envisioned. If we choose to ignore this, we do so at our peril.