[LINK] No, Virginia, the Internet doesn't make us free

[rfmcdonald]

Herry Farrell at Crooked Timber writes about the seemingly obvious truism that capitalism doesn't make us free.

People used to think that the Internet would empower firms and other private actors against the state, helping the spread of democracy, free markets and all that. What we’re seeing instead is that firms and private actors have an interest in keeping powerful states happy, regardless of the impact on global prosperity, freedom and so on. This has always been the case – but it’s being exacerbated by the Internet.

Why are we surprised by this? Why did we fall for this naive belief?