Garret Keizer, writing in Harper’s, theorizes that the problem (denial of any problem) goes deeper than the inevitable tension between liberals and conservatives. He argues that there is “a third force seeking hegemony over this world: stupidity.”
William deBuys in a lengthy article published in the canadiandimention brings our attention to the sad state of our world, particularly but not limited to that currently rampant in the U.S. of Eh. I will not replicate the article here but do recommend that you read it, sadly one small paragraph grabbed my attention more than the rather depressing truths about the condition of our world. As someone who does not subscribe to Facecrap or Twitsplace I cannot speak with authority about those insidious platforms but from what little I am forced to see in my daily News Cruse this little bit of his commentary struck a cord with me.....
Powered by social media, bullshit now travels at the speed of light. A Facebook algorithm is always available to help you segue from funny cat videos to anxiety-inducing clips about QAnon and chem trails. The main objective for Facebook and its advertisers is to keep viewers amused and aroused, to keep them plugged in. For many Internet users, real threats like global warming just can’t compete with the loony
As someone who daily views a number of news and opinion articles online I find it increasingly difficult to find articles that don't veer off in to the bizarre and totally without merit commentary. I am not at all sure anymore that the internet which I have been using continually since its very early days is an asset or a curse for the line between truth and fiction is increasingly becoming harder and harder to discern.....
Now in what is (hopefully?) my last quarter century on this life giving planet we are busy reducing to a lifeless pile of dirt I can but hope that my children (and their children) find a way to filter the BS and support our world as it has supported us over the past millennium.... or will disease and war reduce mankind's population to the point where the planet is able to sustain itself despite the ignorant portion left to inhabit it.
Me cynical? …....yep!
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4 comments:
I have to admit that I am on both Twitter and Facebook (the latter becoming increasingly useless, in my view), Rural; I guess it depends on who one follows on Twitter, but I tend to follow politically active people, reporters, etc., so it does lead me to some interesting mainstream pieces. Other than my Toronto Star print subscription, my other sources tend to be the NYT and the Guardian.
The problem with social media, of course, is that there are so many rabbit holes one can go down to have bizarre notions reinforced, but it is most potent and dangerous for those who are already given to disordered thinking, in my view.
At times I wonder whether today's America , in which conspiracy theories and political lunacy abounds, hasn't been engineered? The wealthiest nation in the world (debt,deficits and rampant inequality excluded) has succumbed to a condition that resembles Lord of the Flies tribalism.
Some argue that US has never been so bitterly divided since the Civil War. There is no obvious path to reconciliation. With the worsening climatic impacts that loom, a breakdown of social cohesion could be devastating. A great deal of money is pumped into that from open-mouth radio networks to FOX and their print clones. Someone benefits from that. Who? What? How?
The US, as a democratic republic, has failed. The corruption of its Congress is complete - in the legislative, regulatory and judicial branches.
A map prepared by the US Geological Survey (I think) showed parts of the US that, due to increasingly severe and frequent storm events, heatwaves and water insecurity are predicted to see the first waves of internal migration. They're mainly the "slave states" of the Confederacy. It's thought that those with enough wealth will migrate north. The rest will have to stay put. Will that be the straw that broke the American camel's back?
The US National Intelligence Estimates report on the climate emergency released this week deals extensively with countries it predicts will be destabilized over the next two decades. Three of them - Pakistan, India and North Korea - have nuclear weapons. All three of those have some land border with China. How does that play out - in Asia but also in Europe and North America?
I don't know, Rural, but the evidence is both manifest and compelling. A litmus test for the future of our world could be the Glasgow climate summit that opens next Sunday. This could be humanity's "make it or break it" moment. This is when the rubber hits the road, when we either steer a new course or ...well.
Separating the wheat from te chaff is become more difficult by the day Lorne, no mater what the medium!
I am not holding my breath for a ground braking moment through next week or indeed anytime soon DL!
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