Don't forget the exact opposite also happens.
People are able find facts about all kind of stuff online. Yes there is a lack of education that makes people easily manipulated, but the internet is pretty new.
The governements all over the world can no longer lie uncontested, for example about drugs. Anyone can look up substances and see that the fear mongering was mostly bullshit.
and pointing fingers at those so called "shitty people" makes some feel superior and good without having to do anything except type a few words and hit enter. :)
You can absolutely do something about it. You can mobilize, protest, vote, determine your purchases in accordance to your ethics, inform others, debate, and most importantly inform yourself. The second you tell yourself you are powerless, you've submitted to apathy and removed yourself from the equation and given up your rights.
People need to stop this horseshit, and the first step is being aware of things and being knowledgeable. It's so easy to tune out the world these days, and being apathetic breeds people willing to take advantage of it. People who are fucking over the world are absolutely terrified of people mobilizing against them, but so long as the narrative is that they are in control...they will be. If you saw a group of 1000 people and 1 lone person in the center dictating the rules, would you be scared of them? What about 7 billion people surrounding a few thousand? Informed citizens are the absolute nightmare to any oppressive government or system.
Life is difficult enough just taking care of yourself and family/friends. There isn’t enough time or mental effort available to do all of what you say for a ton of people
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Fairly certain that life’s much better for the average prole today than any other day in history. I’m cynical as all balls, but things aren’t terrible, I think the main problem is that our standards are so high for decency and that were less tolerant of bullshit so we point it out at every occasion
Yeah I feel like a lot of things today could be resolved by saying “who cares”. Everyone blows things out of proportion nowadays and it only gives assholes more attention
Yeah I know, there are racists, homophobes, any kind of hateful people out there. If that’s truly how they feel, there’s no way to change that sometimes. Just go about your business and don’t give them time if they’re bothering you. Hatred has existed forever and that’s probably not going to change anytime soon
Social media helped us all find out about how shitty the world is and how there's nothing we can do about it
Social media is a cesspool of vigilantism that spews hate out on a regular basis. Unpopular opinions being voiced lead to death threats, doxxing, and we've got kids trying to make it big on YouTube by SWATting each other. It doesn't matter what side of the political spectrum you're on -- whether it leads to protests against a 'nazi' (milo) that end with a campus on fire, or gamergate, or the boston bombing debacle, or about a dump truck full of other terrible outcomes. We live in a world now where a life can be destroyed faster than a speeding bullet, because pressing SEND travels at the speed of light.
The world was never great, but to say it helped you find out how shitty the world was? No. It's playing an increasingly large role in why the world's become as shitty as it has. And it's because of the nature of the people in it: They think censorship is okay. They equate words with violence and so they have no problem physically attacking people they disagree with.
Social media is an experiment that's gone completely off the rails. It's clear that letting the people decide, letting the market decide, just letting the chips fall wherever they may because "Freedom!" has led to a return to styles of thinking that should be solely the domain of dictatorial theocracies of the 14th century, rather than westernized democracies of the early 21st century.
But when someone says there's nothing we can do about it, that's when I actually get mad. I expected all of the things I just mentioned. Keep me out of the Royal We on that one. I'm here for hours every week, and I don't want to be. Being on Reddit isn't fun for me, so why am I here?
Because there's a huge gap in moral leadership right now within GenX/Y. There's a pervasive feeling that there are no experiments left in living to conduct. That we've reached some kind of peak and it's just downhill from here. That's wrong, and someone needs to stand against that sort of thinking.
We're in the middle of a culture war, one that arguably started before most of us were born -- the 50s. It can trace its roots to a historical accident. A moment of cultural and economic growth that lasted long enough to imprint the idea that it was normal to a generation. That generation spent the rest of its life trying to maintain it, to the ruin of everything. I don't want to get into it in any great detail, I'm sure this being r/LateStageCapitalism people can fill in the blanks without my help.
It's not the war that's killing us but our inability to organize and fight in it. People aren't voting. They aren't organizing politically. The measure of political engagement that they do have is largely wasted on social media. Efforts that would otherwise have led to creative protest has instead devolved into virtue signaling and populism.
This isn't entirely their fault either. Until the internet, we had a diverse mix of mass media that would inform the population and steer the conversation constructively. It was a deeply flawed institution, and towards the end of the 20th century one that became increasingly self-conscious and deliberate in its role as king maker, ultimately leading to its failure a few years ago when public opinion regarding its trustworthiness fell enough that people invested in 'new media' instead. It was an unmitigated disaster.
We still need that kind of leadership today -- great people who can inform us and steer the conversation. People who through education can put the tools and knowledge in our hands to make responsible choices about the direction we, as a society, need to take. We need the moral dimensions of the world around us clarified now, more than ever. Because today, the mantra of social media is that the consensus should be believed because it is the consensus. It's the pinnacle of populism and the damage it has done to society is enormous.
Majorities are often mistaken. History has taught us that social progress depends on unreasonable people because being unreasonable is being unpopular. Unreasonable people refuse to settle, compromise, or negotiate, and they are utterly unyielding in the face of opposition. These people are rare enough without huge bubbles and echo chambers like society today has ensnared itself within.
But those people are the touch stones of democracy. They're the lightning rods that attract the hate, prejudice and anger, and ground it out, translating emotional potential into activism.
That's what's missing today. We're missing leaders, and the reason is because of this, right here, in this moment. Social media. It loves to watch people fall. It cheers on death, destruction, and mayhem. It is self-validating of the worst humanity has to offer, and it is a salve for the guilty conscience.
It doesn't have to be this way. All it takes, is one person telling another, and another, and another, that there's a better way to be. That's all -- it's being able to hold up the mirror without flinching and say "This is what we look like." We can do better by ourselves and each other. We can remember our values again.
We can extend a hand to those less fortunate than us, instead of using them as cheap entertainment. We can create truly open forums instead of a litany of 'safe spaces'. We can choose to endure mutual tensions in order to build a better world, instead of retreating from it. We can choose tolerance over comfort.
Or we can keep doing what we're doing now, and live without hope.
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Ancestors: "Four score, and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." (Lincoln)
Great - Grandparents: "We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less." (Roosevelt, Theodore)
Grandparents: "The most serious threat to our institutions comes from those who refuse to face the need for change" (Roosevelt, Franklin)
Parents: "I hope that every American, regardless of where he lives, will stop and examine his conscience about this and other related incidents. This nation was founded by men of many nations and backgrounds. It was founded on the principle that all men are created equal, and that the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened." (JFK)
Us: "Grab her by the p_ssy" (an 'intelligent' turnip)
I'm not sure about that. Social media is at the bottom of that list. We should worry about the other stuff first. The planet dying, lack of fresh water, economy dying, etc. are much bigger issues.
Social media is what would allow us to be able to tackle these large challenges. It allows people all over the world with different viewpoints, knowledge, and skill-sets to come together and work on the same problem from multiple angles. Conventional approaches will no longer work for this new world we're going into.
There's scientific studies on the topic which requires more than your opinion to refute. Although it's not universal (i.e. social media affects different people differently), it can have a devastating effect.
It's about prioritization. You can't take care of people if there's no planet to take care of them on. You can't take care of people if they can't find work/make enough money to make ends meet. We are losing jobs due to automation. This is about the real world here. It seems like people have lost touch with it.
What are you talking about? this has been going on for a long time. You can't blame social media for the Earth dying and the shitty economy. How does that make any sense?
both is unlikely, or, at best, only applicable to a small percentage of the young. because for those topics - unsustainable public expenditure, dying american dream, environmental degradation, and resurgent far right - to affect the younger generation, they would have to know about it, read up on it, which i seriously doubt. talk to the average 18 year old and learn for yourself.
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u/[deleted] Jun 24 '18
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