CHpt 2 On Liberty- JS Mills (my comments)

The end of chapter two concerns the ethics of the public debate in the marketplace of ideas.Mill's ideas about public debate; that it should be done without abuse and deceit, malignity and so forth, are in line with many principles of the Internet's chatrooms. Trolls and abusers can definitely shut down the rational exchange of ideas.

Today there is a surfeit of ideas. Alvin Toffler wrote about society having too many choices in 'Future Shock' (1972). There are so many ideas that individually they have less power to persuade or inform; most are never seen by even a tiny fraction of the populace. The most common, general, large ideas are known by many, yet those ideas too pass like rain clouds.

I must note that Mill's criticism of Christianity as an establishment social element is something like Tolstoy's. After the reformation people continued to criticize the ecclesia. In my opinion Mills entirely misunderstood John Calvin and reformation theology. The liberation of free thinking after the reformation is interesting to historically watch retrospectively.

Europe has had problems that stemmed from feudalism and church establishments and land holdings that Americans of the United States never did-it is like talking about the social history of Mars if such existed- and so the theological criticism from Mills and his generation are of a different nature than theology as an object of pure reason without land relations or royalty issues. Americans can be blind to that, though the abomination of royalty still exists in Europe here and there like some refuge of tyrannical Neanderthals.

The marketplace today is not more free than the Wall Street market; it is under the power of corporatism and financial power controls access. Words tend to be of a cetain monetary value and may be viewed as items in exchange theory. In 'the age of fracture' and subjectivism people tend to have opportunities to select commodities that are material and verbal, and produce far less individually. Ideas are promoted in the marketplace for their ability to return profit and social and financial power. Unpopular ideas, though good; those that won't profit the existing concentrated wealth best, are marginalized.