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Certain key beliefs our society is based on are Noble Lies, and can't be sustained in an open, high quality, debate environment, leaving the believers only with the option of having a closed debate environment.
The establishment is likely also making sure that no open discussion takes place, because the wrong information coming out at the wrong time is often a direct threat to their power and their goals.
My pet theory is also that the whole system is designed towards us consuming. We consume more when we are unhappy. We are force fed belief that the next shipment is the solution to our happiness, while we have a gadgets that is having us comparing our lives with impossible standards constantly nudged in our feeds by algorithms, pointing towards the next solution to make us happy. And then that cycle is hijacked by the powerful to shape our politics that is only in their own interest.
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