Ranting is harmless

From SaschaWiki

In Public Relations, Ranting is harmless is the principle that human endeavour can be averted by encouraging them to put their efforts into talking about a problem rather than acting on it. Prior to the Information Age of the late 20th Century collective discussion was seen as a powerful and dangerous force, and repressive regimes sought to thwart it wherever possible. After the birth of the Internet collective discussion became the default operation for almost all humans in developed nations.

Rather than evoking sweeping political change, exposing the whole of human knowledge and debate effectively neutralised political discussion. Such broad and sweeping discussion fora absorbed the energies of progressives and conservatives alike. This development was quickly noted by early Public Relations experts, who learned that by emphasising public discussion (which still maintained its pre-Internet image of productive social change) they could sharply de-emphasise action.

In the 21st Century, this art became gradually more and more refined. The Official Discussion Forum became a powerful tool. By controlling the dominant (not the only, of course, due to Stifle don't squash) forum for discussion, a corporation could effectively set the public agenda for hostile parties by defusing or de-emphasising unwanted thought, or more sophisticatedly by encouraging it (in such a way that would not make significant negative impact on public image) but encouraging the participants towards an ineffectual standstill.

In the 2070s this technique has been sufficiently perfected to the extent that social action has been all but eradicated.