Losing My Perspicacity January 8, 2025

Good Morning and Happy Wednesday! (Am I the only one who hears Rick Moranis saying that as Bob McKenzie each morning?) How’s it going, eh? Hosers.

I took my youngest back to school today, which means I drove something like 530 miles round trip, and also squeezed in a trip to Dick’s for more sweat pants (I feel like this is all his Gen Z wears), a trip to Kroger, and a trip to Target to pick up duplicates of all the stuff he left at home. The point is, I’m dead on my feet at 9 pm, but there’s only one thing on my mind today, anyway.

(While I’m on the subject, I’ve noticed that most of the newsletters I get stick to one topic per day. I’m legitimately interested if you all would prefer that. Or do you like the quick run through the biggest stories (at least, to me)? I’ve always imagined a newsletter as encompassing several stories, but I’m not opposed to switching it up if you all prefer. I’m out here for you, after all. Drop a comment or shoot me a note if you have a preference.)

Today begs the question of whether Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook (unless you subscribe to the Winkelvi’s claim that he stole the idea from them) has ever spent any time on his own site. Indeed, no one who has interacted with human beings on social media in the last 10 years would think any of this is a good idea.

Among Zuckerberg’s big announcements today were that:

• Meta is ending fact-checking and replacing it with Community Notes, à la X; and

• Meta is moving its safety and moderation team from California to Texas in order to “to do this work in places where there’s less concern about the bias of our teams.”

Before we move on, please note how absolutely wrong the NYT was on all of this.

"Being done with politics” reportedly entails 1) meeting with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago; 2) putting one of Trump’s biggest allies, UFC founder and resident roid rage meathead Dana White on the board of directors; and 3) donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.

I’m not sure what happens to people when they pass the billionaire mark. It’s like any semblance of how to behave like a decent human being or contribute to society goes completely out the window. These are the people who can most afford to pay their fair share of taxes, stand up to corrupt governments, and exchange some of that cash for good karma, but instead, they all seem to hoard it like Smaug bathing in gold in Erebor (I’ve been listening to The Silmarillion in the car all day).

So why is Zuckerberg doing this? Anyone who has spent any time on Facebook (or Insta, or Threads) knows how bad the political rhetoric can get, and that’s before we even get to the racism, misogyny, and homophobia. There’s a reason so many young people eschew Facebook, and it’s because it’s too often comprised of people’s Boomer parents screeching about something their friend Joyce from Bunco Night posted that’s wholly untrue and frequently virulently bigoted. And, because every tech founder is in a never-ending search for more users (and, in Zuck’s case, because his idea to allow AI bots to populate his site was shot down by users in spectacular fashion), this is his latest solution.

The constant grift to “attract new users” reminds me of what our consumer protection professor taught us in law school — the problem with pyramid schemes is that, by the time you get to the 8th or 9th level of downlines, you’ve exceeded the population of the planet, to the chagrin of the poor schmucks who get into the game too late.

But none of that explains Zuckerberg’s obnoxiously blatant sucking up to Trump. I think former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, by all accounts one of the wisest and best among us, may have figured it out.

And here’s the article Reich linked to.

If you’re old enough to remember the break up of Ma Bell in 1983, you know the gist of this lawsuit. In 2020, the FTC (under Trump!) sued to break up Meta into separate parts. The government’s argument is that by owning WhatsApp and Instagram, Meta has cornered the market on social media platforms (in other parts of the world, WhatsApp is used far more than it is in the US) and wants Zuckerberg and company to divest from both. The FTC filed the lawsuit, but it was joined by 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam.

So far, the FTC’s case has survived two of Meta’s motions to dismiss, and the case is currently set to go to trial in April of 2025.

But one person could end it with a phone call. Guess who that person is? Go on, guess!

One of the worst things about this is that, under Biden and the brilliant FTC head Lina Khan, the agency has done real, meaningful work to protect Americans, such as going after monopolies like Meta and Amazon. Under Khan’s leadership, the FTC has outlawed non-compete agreements for all employees (it was later struck down by a federal court - fart noises) and blocked the merger of Kroger and Albertson’s grocery stores (in my neighborhood, this would have led to two grocery stores literally across the street from each other being under the same ownership). Even JD Vance has praised her aggressive stance on breaking up monopolies (though he’d probably deny it now).

(And while we’re on the subject, it’s worth mentioning that the FTC (and multiple states) also have pending trial dates (one in June of 2025, one in October of 2026) against Amazon for numerous offenses, including antitrust and anticompetitive practices, in case you were wondering about Jeff Bezos.)

In an interview today, Khan said she’s hoping Meta and Amazon don’t get a “sweetheart deal” from the Trump administration, which is, of course, precisely what both companies are angling for by kowtowing to Trump.

She is much more diplomatic than I would be in her position. Which is just one of many reasons why I’m not in her position.

I deleted my account on Threads today. It was the easiest Meta account for me to say goodbye to, so I’m posting exclusively on Bluesky now. I know, eventually, I’ll have to give up Facebook and Instagram, too, unless something drastically changes. I hate the idea of losing touch with so many people in my life who I only see on Facebook, but I can’t support this.

Meanwhile, social media had a field day with Zuckerberg today.

Amazing.

Of course, I’m not giving up on the theory that guys like Bezos and Zuckerberg are just morally bankrupt, which is as good an explanation as anything else.

The High Note

Here’s your High Note for today!

What can I say? I watched the Yacht Rock doc this week.

That’s all from me for today, but don’t forget to survive and advance! We’ll be back to a standard newsletter tomorrow.