Quote:
Originally Posted by formula72
I think Social media fatigue is going to pop up more often in conversations in future. Its the ideas posited from the far left and right that makes for great media entertainment and good revenue and i would imagine that we eventually peak from that and people continue to tune out moving forward. Personally, id bet the under on voter turnout even with Trump running but who the hell knows.
This is a very NYT kind of framing where "extremism" is like, "we should have decent HC" or "You shouldn't have to be an indentured servant to banks if you want to go to college."
I view it as 2 things. 1) the forces of corruption have totally eroded our safeguards against it. Speaking fees, lobbyists, campaign contributions, insider trading, think tanks, etc. Being a politician is no longer a path of civil service, but a way to become extravagantly wealthy. That's 3rd world stuff. You cannot have a well run gov when every single office holder is getting rich off corruption. And the US is now run like a 3rd world country.
The corruption caused by lobbyists, think tanks, corporate media, etc is more subtle, but still pretty obvious.
As a result, both parties are pretty hostile to 80-90% of the population, and perhaps 100% of the future population. Really addressing our core quality of life issues is totally off the table. To do something like the interstate hwy system today is inconceivable. See e.g. how fiercely both parties oppose the GND.
(Yes there are individuals within either party who advocate good policies but they always magically fail to get them made.)
2) As this has happened, the internet has allowed people to circumvent propaganda. An obvious example is we can see the destruction in gaza, and human faces are put to it. In 1993 all that would be glossed over.
When we relied on corporate news, if UHC came up, we'd get stories about how you had to wait 2 years to be treated for a GSW in England, where everyone paid 97% income tax because of HC. They still run these stories, but only boomers read them.
Now, there is ready access to alternative media. Or, i can just look up things like HC costs per capita. (It's easy to forget how much work it used to be to do stuff like that). Or, we can just talk to people.
I can ask my English friends online about HC and have a Tory tell me their system is pretty good and ours is insane. We also have countless first hand reports from a place like gaza. "Here is a picture of my little brother. He was shot in the head yesterday."
Whether you're right or left leaning, you really have to be stubbornly glued to corporate narratives to see people like Biden or his Republican counterparts as even slightly decent people, or think they care about you, the country or the world outside of their own circles.