‘Free’ market is eroding liberty and democracy
The commodification of personal data for political ends is a threat to our freedoms.
It is also another reminder, if we needed it, that the private sector cannot be trusted to self-regulate. In recent times, both the building and banking sectors in this country have demonstrated that self-regulation is farcical.
The irony is that we are constantly fed the line that the so-called free market is the ultimate manifestation of human freedom and must be protected at all costs. However, what we have learned, repeatedly to our cost, is that it is the opposite.
For the last 40 years, the adoption of neoliberalism globally and the orthodoxy of unsustainable growth have eroded democracy, degraded our ecosystems, and converted citizens into insatiable consumers.
For the majority, there is no freedom from this greedy mindset; freedom will become a luxury only the select few can afford.
The corrosive influence of corporate interests in the political system has been apparent for some time, but this latest, insidious example shows just how vulnerable our democracies are.
The response of governments to this threat will be very telling.
