Indeed. It’s unbearable because “it will be obvious when the danger comes” is *now* for a lot of us, but in a world of memes and hyperbole how does one communicate a complex set of facts that won’t fit in a meme but add up to an unmistakable crisis that sounds like just more hyperbole?
The public seems barely up to accepting grossly obvious facts, like years of nearly full employment and low crime or even the spread of a disease killing millions. How can they possibly understand a danger that requires a modicum of actual understanding and foresight?
no, things are going to fall apart pretty quickly. what good is Netflix if you are losing your job? or it becomes an expense you can no longer afford because eggs are now $9.39 a dozen which it is at my local store. Tariffs, inflation, high unemployment is not normal anymore, hasn't been for years
If you want to get a feel for every day life in Nazi Germany even way into the war, and how by and large jolly and normal it was for the large majority, go and visit the exhibition „Hitler - How could it happen?“ at Berlin Story Bunker in - well - Berlin. https://www.berlinstory.de/hitler-wie-konnte-es-geschehen/
Will decay quicker when the Medicade many families depend on dissappears, when the Social Security age limit,so high,most ppl wouldn't live longer to receive their investment,when forced unemployment,benefits cannot be paid due to high volume of people collecting
Shades of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" as you say, & also "The Society of the Spectacle" & mainstream "recuperation" of radical objections into harmless products. Bad govts depend on malls, movies, other shallow consumerist distractions.
I lived in China too but THAT is their normal. going there we understood that and accepted it. the biggest problem for Trump's authoritarianism is it is so incompetent. they are wrecking government while trying to run government. things ppl take for granted here won't work well anymore.
Like, when I was working in China, I get up, go to work, have meals (with dubious food safety), play video games (from steam or Hong Kong server of PS network), watch (pirated) TV shows, go to (heavily censored) social media, talk to friends and family using WeChat (all group chats are monitored)
Like, I didn’t do much differently compared to where I’m now. But!
- here, I could go to some gatherings, demonstrations or even protests (with risks given my foreign student status)
- I could go to city hearings that aren’t rubber stamping things
- I can create my own websites without approval
But not everyone uses rights like these here and a lot of people live like those of us who don’t have those rights. To me it is a waste, but it also shows how indifferent some people have become
One of the things I've wondered is if "The End of History" isn't going to be "liberal democracy" but authoritarian bureaucracy. Unlike 20th century dictatorships, 21st century authoritarians seem to know how to keep things mostly functional. A shitty world but not shitty enough to break down. ?
@lxeagle17.bsky.social has indirectly addressed this point, and it's why Democratic electeds are broadly more right than a lot of Blueskiers in the strategy they are using to defeat authoritarianism, because there's no way out of this that's anywhere near stable other than elections.
For every election going back to the 1940s, Democrats have (with increasing shrillness) accused the Republicans of being fascists and Nazis. Voters have learned to tune it out.
Which means that now that it is actually true, we're fucked.
"I am less interested here in the psychology than the presentation. Social media makes it easy to engage in this pageantry."
If we were more interested in the Psychology, we'd have recognized mindless toxic media & wouldn't have elected an idiotic psychopath as our own Lord of the Flies.
here's 1: Critical fire weather is forecast today in south-central Colorado while dry conditions and gusty winds bring elevated fire weather to parts of the Southwest U.S. 2-26-25
35,000 FS employees were just fired, falsely claiming "not the firefighters". RM and S tier states, the bill is coming.
Alan, glad this came across my timeline. I studied under your dad at Harding 25+ years ago, and he was a huge influence on me (and a lot of other folks, of course). Immediate follow.
(We're the folks with the donut shop in Nashville, for what it's worth.)
"The lie we tell ourselves is that it will be obvious when the danger comes, and we’ll do something about it then. We grew up on movies where villains are clearly evil, and the good guys act in time.
Comments
- here, I could go to some gatherings, demonstrations or even protests (with risks given my foreign student status)
- I could go to city hearings that aren’t rubber stamping things
- I can create my own websites without approval
- I can complain to politicians via various channels
And more importantly
- citizens here can vote in multiple levels and have a say
Which means that now that it is actually true, we're fucked.
If we were more interested in the Psychology, we'd have recognized mindless toxic media & wouldn't have elected an idiotic psychopath as our own Lord of the Flies.
35,000 FS employees were just fired, falsely claiming "not the firefighters". RM and S tier states, the bill is coming.
(We're the folks with the donut shop in Nashville, for what it's worth.)
"But the real world is less straightforward."
Great piece.