by Pa Rock
Paranoid
Surely we all know by now that corporate America and the evil one-percent control much of what goes on around us in our daily lives. They create the goods and services, convince us that we have to have what they produce, and buy legislators to ensure that laws are designed to keep us, and not them, under control. The deck is stacked, the game is rigged - we all know that.
I naively thought, until recently, that we had a bit of safe space within our own homes, but now I'm not so sure about that. Google reads my email, my most private communications to family and friends - not just occasionally, but every damned word of every damned line of every damned email - every damned day! If I mention to Cousin Myrtle in South Turtle that I would love to have some of her homemade bread, ads for bakery goods and bread-making machines suddenly appear on my email page. If I say, in passing, that I need some horse manure for my garden, I would be deluged with ads for fertilizer companies - and Google would likely pass that tidbit on to Twitter who would then recommend that I follow a whole slew of Republican politicians!
But it gets worse.
Yesterday I went to Amazon.com to see if I could locate a toner cartridge for my printer. I entered the term "toner cartridge" in their search box, and immediately received a whole page of suggestions - all of which were for replacements for my exact printer! I hadn't told Amazon What type of printer I had, but the company apparently was able to search my peripherals and find out exactly what I was using. Amazon had a snoop around my office space! Then, after I made my selection and hit "one click," I received an immediate notice that it was on its way to my home in West Plains. Normally, I have to choose from several addresses stored at Amazon (grandchildren and friends), but this time the company knew where my printer was located and where to ship the toner cartridges.
It's a bit too much, it really is. But if my toner cartridges arrive by the new Amazon drone delivery system, I guess I will forgive them. It doesn't take much to get back on my good side!
Paranoid
Surely we all know by now that corporate America and the evil one-percent control much of what goes on around us in our daily lives. They create the goods and services, convince us that we have to have what they produce, and buy legislators to ensure that laws are designed to keep us, and not them, under control. The deck is stacked, the game is rigged - we all know that.
I naively thought, until recently, that we had a bit of safe space within our own homes, but now I'm not so sure about that. Google reads my email, my most private communications to family and friends - not just occasionally, but every damned word of every damned line of every damned email - every damned day! If I mention to Cousin Myrtle in South Turtle that I would love to have some of her homemade bread, ads for bakery goods and bread-making machines suddenly appear on my email page. If I say, in passing, that I need some horse manure for my garden, I would be deluged with ads for fertilizer companies - and Google would likely pass that tidbit on to Twitter who would then recommend that I follow a whole slew of Republican politicians!
But it gets worse.
Yesterday I went to Amazon.com to see if I could locate a toner cartridge for my printer. I entered the term "toner cartridge" in their search box, and immediately received a whole page of suggestions - all of which were for replacements for my exact printer! I hadn't told Amazon What type of printer I had, but the company apparently was able to search my peripherals and find out exactly what I was using. Amazon had a snoop around my office space! Then, after I made my selection and hit "one click," I received an immediate notice that it was on its way to my home in West Plains. Normally, I have to choose from several addresses stored at Amazon (grandchildren and friends), but this time the company knew where my printer was located and where to ship the toner cartridges.
It's a bit too much, it really is. But if my toner cartridges arrive by the new Amazon drone delivery system, I guess I will forgive them. It doesn't take much to get back on my good side!
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