I remember when the Internet was supposed to be the Wild West*. Anonymous, un-censorable, no-holds-barred free expression. Of course, no one had figured out how to make money from it back then. (Except for the pornographers, I suppose.) It was mostly just a hobby for foul-mouth geeks with the patience to deal with 56k dial-up modems.
Funny how the promise of a little money has us all rushing to censor ourselves. No government needed.
I don't know how the Medium boosting algorithm works, but of course I'm partial to nipples. I've never had the occasion to meaningfully quote 4chan before, but here goes:
TITS OR GTFO.
* (Now I'm curious. What does "Wild West" mean to someone from Eastern Europe?)
God, I wish I'd seen that. It feels a lot more appealing than what it is now, this place being the exception that proves the rule.
Guess we still buy into the illusion that maybe just maybe we can turn it into a whole lotta money.
Words to type by. Apparently.
Wild West, much like the American dream, is a distant concept of lots of sand and lawlessness. The whole cowboy thing never really caught on here, though. I remember being introduced to the ethos (rather than the gunslinger stereotype of old movies) through music. That idea of kicking ass and taking names, it felt novel. I loved the idea, though for me, the Wild West connection is purely intellectual. You coulda told me astronauts lived like that, and I'd think it's an astronaut ethos instead. Make any sense?
It does make sense, thanks; that's what I was wondering. "Wild West" is such an American thing, really just a few generations back in our very short history. There's this idea of a fresh start that happened so recently we can imagine doing it again. I wonder if there can even be an equivalent feeling in a place with thousands of years of history.