"Modern" Doesn't Mean Better, It Typically Just Means Newer
RMS demonised as someone who rejects "modern society" ("rejecting modern society") by a site that uses slop extensively
At risk of repeating oneself, and there's generally nothing wrong with repeating things that are important (in different words or contexts), rejecting "modern" technology isn't the same as rejecting society or so-called "modern society" - whatever that even means. A lot of the "slop industry" (so-called 'AI') is trying to foist upon people "new things" not because they benefit those people; the "new stuff" isn't beneficial. Newer does not imply better.
Take for instance some of the more "modern" Web. Did it really improve? Does it only get more bloated?
The harder I try to think about this, the more I just think SSL or TLS with CAs is not intentionally about monopoly/centralisation/complexity/censorship; rather, it's a wanted "side effect". In other words, it may have started with good intentions, but what we have right now does not benefit anyone but the "tech giants". Does that mean it was some sort of "conspiracy" by "tech giants"? No, not necessarily, but it means they stand to benefit from it.
A friend has argued that "the consolidation seems intentional. Something similar happened with E-mail and how we have chosen to fight Microsoft spam. The spam mitigations lead to centralization, accidentally at first, more intentionally as time has gone on."
After 22+ years I still manage all my E-mail in my own domain, but it's not always easy because as recently as yesterday at some spa* you'll get stares when you say your E-mail is "my first name at my last name dot com" rather than some combination of words and numbers "at gmail dot com" (or something to that effect) and the mail relay needs a lot of housekeeping to avoid being binned as "dirty".
In general, E-mail has only gotten worse and it gets spied on more than ever before. It's bloated, unreliable, and massively centralised. It's a tool of repression, not emancipation or communication.
Right now we are gratified to see that almost all of Geminispace rejects centralisation through CAs, search engines (there's no "Google of Geminispace", just "Gemini" of Google, which means slop), and single dominant clients such as Chrome.
This is an example of "new" being better. Gemini Protocol is new, it's not widely known, but it solves real issues.
If society wants freedom in the digital realm, then it needs to think more like - or at least listen to - Richard Stallman. Despite the condemnation from people who want to order food on some "app", many of his life choices left him more independent from bad aspects of "modern" technology. █
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* This spa does not accept cash either, but then again, it does not accept anonymous guests either. It wants basic details like names and phone numbers, for reasons that may be totally understandable (e.g. theft or antisocial behaviour).