A Declaration of Independence.

This being erev July Fourth, aka Independence Day:

I hold these truths to be self-evident, that I am not "owned" by giant corporations. Neither my data, nor my permission to be marketed to on every device, on every flat surface, at every opportunity, no matter where I am or what I'm doing.

I hold these truths to be self-evident. I do not accept terms and conditions. I refuse to listen to artificial voices driven by artificial intelligence that speak in the first-person singular, that use personal pronouns, that call me by my name. (You don't know me.) I refuse to fall for the ruses of the tech plutocrats when their devices tell me there's a 52.6% chance of .034-inches of rain. They are adding decimals and fractions to appear scientific when they're no more accurate than weather gleaned from moss on a tree, or dew on a toad.

I hold these truths to be self-evident. I do not want every sporting event, every election, every concert, TV show, every-everything co-opted by brands trying to force their way into my wallet. I do not accept telco names or bank names or oil company names on stadia my tax dollars paid for. Further, I do not accept ten minutes of commercials for ten minutes of programming when you've already charged me for access. I do not accept 30-seconds of promo to watch a one-minute YouTube clip. I do not accept the notion that trillionaires are somehow job creators and therefore exempt from paying taxes to the nation that made them trillionaires in the first place.

I hold these truths to be self-evident. I refuse to work for one of the four companies that make up the oligarchy that control the advertising industry. I refuse to accept the depreciation of wages, the disappearance of benefits and the almost total evaporation of job security so people like John Wren, CEO of Omnicom, which fired over 35,000 people this year, can "earn" $70,000,000. ($191,000/day.)

I hold these truths to be self-evident. I will not buy the well-funded lie that AI is as good as human. Like "open-plan" offices a decade ago, AI is a cost-saving effort, it's not science it's money that drives AI-propagation and promotion. Any assertion as to its quality, its speed, its usefulness and its humanity is nothing more than a subterfuge to lower-costs, increase margins and plow more money into the pockets of the plutocratic class.

The holding company powers have refused to respect those with know-how and experience. Though over 34% of the US population is over 50, just 11% of WPP is.

The holding company powers have refused to pay decent wages, with salaries in real dollars lower today than they were 50 years ago.

The holding company powers have refused to embrace fairness. John Wren of WPP earns over 1200 times what the median employee of WPP makes. 

The holding company powers have refused to be candid about their solvency, about their parlous financial state, about the future of those they employ.

The holding company powers have mandated their own wage increases and bonuses while freezing the wages and eliminating bonuses for ordinary employese.

We, therefore, being an independent agency, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of my intentions, do absolve myself from the corrupt and venal cabal that is modern advertising, dissolving all connection between us. (Available for freelance, however.)