iknklast: Some would argue we’ve always been here, it’s just more obvious where we are now. After all, there’s not much difference between Trumpism and Bircherism.
History is filtered through literacy, which was until very recently a scarce resource, and which gives us quite a false impression of how articulate and intelligent and thoughtful the average person was. We then look around us and see the great seething mass of humanity in all its pestilent glory, and we imagine there must have been a general diminution or devolution or corruption.
No, we’re simply seeing humanity unfiltered. And with social media, the filter simply doesn’t exist any longer. People have always been this ignorant, this greedy, this thoughtless, and this selfish; they have always thought themselves the protagonist in a cosmic struggle. We just lacked the tools to all communicate instantly with one another and see.
No, we’re simply seeing humanity unfiltered. And with social media, the filter simply doesn’t exist any longer. People have always been this ignorant, this greedy, this thoughtless, and this selfish; they have always thought themselves the protagonist in a cosmic struggle. We just lacked the tools to all communicate instantly with one another and see.
Maybe perhaps. But it sounds like an explanation of all the strife of history in terms of Original Sin.
I have no doubt this has always been there; I grew up in the middle of it. My family not only supports Trump, one of my brothers is Trump, just without money.
The thing is, these views have become the dominant force in our country. They have always been there, operating in the shadows, making back room deals, polishing guns, and shouting at liberals. That’s why we had the 60s. But now they are out of the shadows. That might be good, because everyone sees now what some of us lived for so long, and maybe, in theory, we could do something about it. Social media has brought everything to light, but I think it goes further than that. The end of the fairness doctrine led to Rush and friends (and Fox and Friends) being able to shout shit about people non-stop, without having any balance. The left has been slow to catch up. Now that we are catching up, unfortunately it’s the woke dominating the discussion.
Sometimes I wonder how we got to this point.
iknklast: Some would argue we’ve always been here, it’s just more obvious where we are now. After all, there’s not much difference between Trumpism and Bircherism.
Yeah, I’m in the always-been-there camp.
Ba dum tiss.
History is filtered through literacy, which was until very recently a scarce resource, and which gives us quite a false impression of how articulate and intelligent and thoughtful the average person was. We then look around us and see the great seething mass of humanity in all its pestilent glory, and we imagine there must have been a general diminution or devolution or corruption.
No, we’re simply seeing humanity unfiltered. And with social media, the filter simply doesn’t exist any longer. People have always been this ignorant, this greedy, this thoughtless, and this selfish; they have always thought themselves the protagonist in a cosmic struggle. We just lacked the tools to all communicate instantly with one another and see.
Seth:
Maybe perhaps. But it sounds like an explanation of all the strife of history in terms of Original Sin.
Nations differ on that; not just individuals.
So the anti-majoritarian instincts of the framers were spot on, just not the mechanism?
I have no doubt this has always been there; I grew up in the middle of it. My family not only supports Trump, one of my brothers is Trump, just without money.
The thing is, these views have become the dominant force in our country. They have always been there, operating in the shadows, making back room deals, polishing guns, and shouting at liberals. That’s why we had the 60s. But now they are out of the shadows. That might be good, because everyone sees now what some of us lived for so long, and maybe, in theory, we could do something about it. Social media has brought everything to light, but I think it goes further than that. The end of the fairness doctrine led to Rush and friends (and Fox and Friends) being able to shout shit about people non-stop, without having any balance. The left has been slow to catch up. Now that we are catching up, unfortunately it’s the woke dominating the discussion.