Americans Are Trapped in an Algorithmic Cage

Julian Zelizer : George W. Bush-era adviser said in 2004 : "We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality" Trump administration bears many of the worst hallmarks of the Bush era, Zelizer says.

Zelizer asks: Will actual reality ever intrude today ? He says the presence of the “broligarchs” at Trump ’s inauguration was an ominous sign.

Julian Zelizer : When Americans begin to suffer, the aim will be to trick people into believing things are not occurring as they are or that someone else is to blame.

He says Zuckerberg altered terms of his social networks to make distribution of right-wing propaganda easier.

Zelizer says social-media platforms have one purpose, which is to keep people attached to their devices.

The goal of this cage is to make companies a profit, but we are now entering an era when the government is pressuring them.

Where they cannot do this, they will simply try to bewilder Americans by clogging these channels with toxic waste, flooding “the zone with shit,” as the Trump stalwart Steve Bannon once put it. Will Americans recognize what is happening, or will they be sufficiently distracted, pacified, or misled by their billionaire overlords into inaction? The answer to this question will determine whether those responsible for the misery to come will be held accountable..