We Cannot Decide
A poem about internet prisoners
Part 1: The User's Prison
We Cannot Decide
We cannot decide
The feed decides what we see
Autoplay decides what we hear
Trending decides what we hate
They predict our next move, then make it happen
On this internet
We are the arranged
We Are Too Small
Everything seems meaningless
Three hours writing a tweet — zero retweets, zero likes
All night editing a TikTok — single-digit views
Handcraft on Xiaohongshu — commented "9.9 on Taobao"
Thoughtful answer on Reddit — mocked with "who asked you"
Our lives cheap against others' brilliance
On this internet
We delete more than we post
We Have No Dignity
"I have read and agree" — The greatest lie of our time
Reject tracking eight times, accept only takes once
Prove "I'm not a robot" — selected traffic lights nine times
Recipe needs phone number, weather needs location
Free trial secretly charges, cancel button nowhere found
Their server crash is "force majeure"
We mistype one word get shadow banned
Their data breach is "technical glitch"
We screenshot get permabanned
Request our own data back — reply always "feedback noted"
On this internet
We sell everything for the name "user"
Part 2: The Engineer's Prison
We Code Prisoners
Product manager shows yesterday's DAU curve
"Not steep enough"
I know every peak on that curve
Is someone's 3am
My PR title:
feat: optimize user retention funnel
My inner translation:
"Make them harder to leave"
We use A/B testing to find
The perfect red dot size for anxiety
Use machine learning to calculate
The perfect push timing for guilt
We're Also Caged
My daughter is 13, six hours daily on TikTok
That "pull to refresh" gesture
Is in my commit history
But mortgage won't let me speak truth
Options won't let me have conscience
"Change the world" lies
Already posted on every wall
You think we're gatekeepers
We're also inside the gate
Just more comfortable cells
Golden shackles
Part 3: The Awakening
But Wait
If we are the majority
If data comes from us
If value is created by us
Why can't we make the rules?
This isn't democratization, it's new feudalism
In this seemingly open network
We're just more sophisticated serfs
But technology itself isn't wrong
What's wrong is who controls it
We're Not Enemies
Users —
I know you hate us
Hate every infinite scroll we wrote
Hate every red dot we designed
You're right
Engineers —
I know you're victims too
Writing code against conscience daily
Losing sleep over meaning nightly
You're suffering too
We're trapped in the same system
The real enemy isn't each other
It's the machine that turns us all into products
Part 4: The New Protocol
Time for Change
We're tired
Tired of writing dark patterns
Tired of watching MAU grow
Knowing it means more people losing sleep
Some start "accidentally" enlarging exit buttons
Some leave backdoors in code:
if (user.really_wants_to_leave) {
actually_let_them();
}
New Code
I start writing different code
No user_id
No tracking_pixel
No retention_funnel
Only:
Can you translate? Show me
Can you compute? Calculate this
Have this file? Send a fragment
Don't ask who you are
Only see what you can do
Behavior is identity
Capability is the passport
Like the Early Internet
Remember HTTP?
Anyone could build a website
Any browser could visit
No one controlled the whole network
Remember Email?
Gmail can send to Outlook
Don't need the same platform
No 30% email tax
What we're writing
Is HTTP for the AI age
SMTP for agents
TCP/IP for capability
Part 5: OpenOnion Movement
OpenOnion
We're peeling back the lies together
This isn't a project — it's a movement
Like an onion, layer by layer, peeling tech giants' lies:
This Is an Invitation
If you're also tired
Tired of writing surveillance code
Tired of optimizing addiction
Tired of pretending to change the world
Come write real infrastructure
Not for IPO
Not for valuation
For that simplest reason:
Let technology serve humans
Not humans serve technology
Simple Start
Users:
- • Try a day without algorithmic recommendations
- • Support an open source project
- • Tell friends there's another possibility
- • Be testers, not lab rats
Engineers:
- • Write code that respects users
- • Contribute privacy-protecting features
- • Refuse dark pattern requirements
- • Build something meaningful after work
Together:
- • Define what ethical technology is
- • Build networks without surveillance
- • Create real connections
- • Take back our internet
The Future Is Already Compiling
$ pip install connectonion
Every line of code
Is betrayal of the old world
Every node
Is a seed of the new network
We don't need a billion users
Just a thousand nodes
Network effects will complete the rest
Just like the internet did
This isn't revolution
This is evolution
Function by function
Rewriting human connection
The future isn't distributed
It's compiled by our hands
Code is law
Protocol is freedom
Connection belongs to everyone
One node, one person
One protocol, one dream
Layer by layer peeling lies
Step by step approaching truth
OpenOnion
Layer by layer
We're peeling back the lies
And building something real