It’s pretty fascinating actually how we are slowly getting more and more insight into how the entire pop culture/ culture war is carefully manicured to give people things to froth over while they tactfully turn their heads from Palestine literally disappearing in smoke and flame and body parts, and ICE dragging random people to gulags for literally no reason other than the fact that forced labor is almost as good for business as owning slaves.
Everything that raises a media frenzy nowadays is strategically fanned from somewhere, I am absolutely sure. For every one person who genuinely cares super deeply about the photo where some dude is (consensually, apparently) holding a fistful of Sabrina Carpenter’s hair, I am pretty sure there are at least fifty bots frothing up this nothingburger of a scandal so fewer people have time to scroll to the posts with the blown up children and the rabid cops.
The extra fascinating thing is that it’s totally working.
“Chaos Machine” is an excellent book on this phenomenon. It’s a chicken and egg situation: Are we predisposed to outrage bullshit or did decades of media conditioning make us like this? I’m not really sure anymore.
I’ll give that a read! It’s possible that both are true. It seems to me that, however you slice it, the majority of any nation doesn’t really want to deal with issues of global import in any meaningful way. Which honestly makes sense, why would you want that. The people who want to meddle in global affairs tend to be deeply sociopathic and power-hungry to the point of mental illness, who wants to try to figure out how to hold them accountable while also balancing a job, family, car payments, depression, whatever.
But sadly now we all know everything about everything, you can’t really handle just sitting there looking at them as they tear the world to pieces. So you look for other things to look at. And they, for their part, are more than happy to provide. It’s like a mutual unspoken accord.
But it all cracks at the seams as the people who have counted on the fact that they, at least, will remain relatively unscathed as everyone else suffers around them, start to realize the crap tsunami is coming for them too. It happened to us in Serbia in the nineties. Everything was fine until it wasn’t. Then we had to protest for 7 years to get rid of a genocidal dictator.
At one point things are too horrible for too long and then the reasonable people all stand up. But they would mostly really, really, really prefer not to. So we’re still waiting.
I think it's safe to say that 99% of the culture war stuff is just a distraction but it seems like it kicked into high gear after Occupy Wall Street. Maybe some of it started off legitimately, but it gets amplified to a point where it unreasonably dominates the conversation and gives the political class cover to continue to sell us out.
Great essay. When I read stuff like this though, it’s immediately apparent that it was written by people who don’t remember the pre-internet world, and therefore have nothing to compare today to. There’s a lack of context and perspective. We are so thoroughly steeped in raunch and propaganda that you can’t really step back. This is a valiant effort though. But social media and “porn” bled the population of both community trust and independent thought. It did. Not to mention common sense, which has long since left the building. I watched it happen. You’re right about outrage-bait being part of a political agenda to distract and divide. But young people are noticeably cowed and terrified. In the 80’s and 90’s roving gangs of teenagers everywhere thought we ran the world, as it should be. Until we got back home or to school, where we were put in our place by adults who were simply and obviously more capable. Now a bewildered and infantile population is mystified that neither their leaders nor their children pay them any mind. We were sold demoralizations wrapped in dopamine and plastic. Insane. In Canada people desperately cling to the dream that it’s business as usual. But really, getting on with our own little lives is the best people can do. The only resistance that counts is massive numbers of people in the streets. The powerful can ignore our tweets until kingdom come.
I've always held the belief that social media is a pressure valve, allowing serfs to yell at the castle wall. In addition to your comment about "young people are noticeably cowed and terrified," I would also add narcissistic. There was some crazy stat that came out a few years ago, something like 3/4 of young Americans want to be a social media influencer. It makes sense if that's all you're raised on and economic opportunities are disappearing around you. You have an economic engine that constantly reinforces that your needs are the center of attention, so why not pursue a career that makes it so? I've lived in a few cities in the U.S. and Canada, so the main character syndrome is everywhere. This has been a major detriment to any kind of progressive movement/mass solidarity as well.
Ya totally. They can’t ignore the serfs when we’re in the streets in numbers. They brutally demonize any street movement whether left or right, truckers, students or ordinary people are mocked and belittled when we take to the streets. I support all street protests for that reason. We need to destigmatize mass movements and stop joining in the mockery when it’s not our tribe protesting. IMO.
Every Jewish man is supposed to pray each day, and among his first prayers is supposed to be thanking God he was not born a woman. I have never said this prayer, but I have from time to time thanked God I was not born an American.
We were every faily in 2014 flash imaging what we would do if we walked in on the policr enacting their faith in overkill. We admire now the solifarity people who hang out in parks sans devuces. Their memory of living every fay for years isverifiable. We all read Graeber's origins of citues book, and we might as well bring oir pop contributions to the fisheye lens of cell phones. Mine is maintenance of houses, i am in parkour training like Burt Lancaster's acrobatic career to climb a statue and strap a hairy covid virus over the head. I feel if we continue to support the unenviable work of like you said reporting the history as if politicians are getting what entertains them. Like it was Vance who invented the dog eting fakeout. Then we have Mini headrom left over to keep asking What I am going to do with my life?
When did I criticize her for being sexual? I just think her music is boring and all these arguments online are in a continuation of a long, lame culture war over dumb pop culture shit.
It’s pretty fascinating actually how we are slowly getting more and more insight into how the entire pop culture/ culture war is carefully manicured to give people things to froth over while they tactfully turn their heads from Palestine literally disappearing in smoke and flame and body parts, and ICE dragging random people to gulags for literally no reason other than the fact that forced labor is almost as good for business as owning slaves.
Everything that raises a media frenzy nowadays is strategically fanned from somewhere, I am absolutely sure. For every one person who genuinely cares super deeply about the photo where some dude is (consensually, apparently) holding a fistful of Sabrina Carpenter’s hair, I am pretty sure there are at least fifty bots frothing up this nothingburger of a scandal so fewer people have time to scroll to the posts with the blown up children and the rabid cops.
The extra fascinating thing is that it’s totally working.
“Chaos Machine” is an excellent book on this phenomenon. It’s a chicken and egg situation: Are we predisposed to outrage bullshit or did decades of media conditioning make us like this? I’m not really sure anymore.
I’ll give that a read! It’s possible that both are true. It seems to me that, however you slice it, the majority of any nation doesn’t really want to deal with issues of global import in any meaningful way. Which honestly makes sense, why would you want that. The people who want to meddle in global affairs tend to be deeply sociopathic and power-hungry to the point of mental illness, who wants to try to figure out how to hold them accountable while also balancing a job, family, car payments, depression, whatever.
But sadly now we all know everything about everything, you can’t really handle just sitting there looking at them as they tear the world to pieces. So you look for other things to look at. And they, for their part, are more than happy to provide. It’s like a mutual unspoken accord.
But it all cracks at the seams as the people who have counted on the fact that they, at least, will remain relatively unscathed as everyone else suffers around them, start to realize the crap tsunami is coming for them too. It happened to us in Serbia in the nineties. Everything was fine until it wasn’t. Then we had to protest for 7 years to get rid of a genocidal dictator.
At one point things are too horrible for too long and then the reasonable people all stand up. But they would mostly really, really, really prefer not to. So we’re still waiting.
I think it's safe to say that 99% of the culture war stuff is just a distraction but it seems like it kicked into high gear after Occupy Wall Street. Maybe some of it started off legitimately, but it gets amplified to a point where it unreasonably dominates the conversation and gives the political class cover to continue to sell us out.
Mark Fisher called it all in 2012 with Vampire Castle. We're all stuck in it now.
Vampire Castle is a great piece that everyone should read
Great essay. When I read stuff like this though, it’s immediately apparent that it was written by people who don’t remember the pre-internet world, and therefore have nothing to compare today to. There’s a lack of context and perspective. We are so thoroughly steeped in raunch and propaganda that you can’t really step back. This is a valiant effort though. But social media and “porn” bled the population of both community trust and independent thought. It did. Not to mention common sense, which has long since left the building. I watched it happen. You’re right about outrage-bait being part of a political agenda to distract and divide. But young people are noticeably cowed and terrified. In the 80’s and 90’s roving gangs of teenagers everywhere thought we ran the world, as it should be. Until we got back home or to school, where we were put in our place by adults who were simply and obviously more capable. Now a bewildered and infantile population is mystified that neither their leaders nor their children pay them any mind. We were sold demoralizations wrapped in dopamine and plastic. Insane. In Canada people desperately cling to the dream that it’s business as usual. But really, getting on with our own little lives is the best people can do. The only resistance that counts is massive numbers of people in the streets. The powerful can ignore our tweets until kingdom come.
I've always held the belief that social media is a pressure valve, allowing serfs to yell at the castle wall. In addition to your comment about "young people are noticeably cowed and terrified," I would also add narcissistic. There was some crazy stat that came out a few years ago, something like 3/4 of young Americans want to be a social media influencer. It makes sense if that's all you're raised on and economic opportunities are disappearing around you. You have an economic engine that constantly reinforces that your needs are the center of attention, so why not pursue a career that makes it so? I've lived in a few cities in the U.S. and Canada, so the main character syndrome is everywhere. This has been a major detriment to any kind of progressive movement/mass solidarity as well.
Ya totally. They can’t ignore the serfs when we’re in the streets in numbers. They brutally demonize any street movement whether left or right, truckers, students or ordinary people are mocked and belittled when we take to the streets. I support all street protests for that reason. We need to destigmatize mass movements and stop joining in the mockery when it’s not our tribe protesting. IMO.
Every Jewish man is supposed to pray each day, and among his first prayers is supposed to be thanking God he was not born a woman. I have never said this prayer, but I have from time to time thanked God I was not born an American.
Glad I got out when I did. Canada has its issues, but being here has been better for my mental health.
This is a banger.
Thanks for reading!
We were every faily in 2014 flash imaging what we would do if we walked in on the policr enacting their faith in overkill. We admire now the solifarity people who hang out in parks sans devuces. Their memory of living every fay for years isverifiable. We all read Graeber's origins of citues book, and we might as well bring oir pop contributions to the fisheye lens of cell phones. Mine is maintenance of houses, i am in parkour training like Burt Lancaster's acrobatic career to climb a statue and strap a hairy covid virus over the head. I feel if we continue to support the unenviable work of like you said reporting the history as if politicians are getting what entertains them. Like it was Vance who invented the dog eting fakeout. Then we have Mini headrom left over to keep asking What I am going to do with my life?
Sabrina knows what she’s doing - don’t be a prude! Sex is natural and healthy for society. 📈🤰❤️
When did I criticize her for being sexual? I just think her music is boring and all these arguments online are in a continuation of a long, lame culture war over dumb pop culture shit.
No worries man - I unfollowed. I happen to love this pop culture and my brain ain’t rotted at all boi…
The fact that your takeaway from this was somehow that Sam didn’t like the album cover… maybe try reading it?