Americans used to know things and study things, and share knowledge in magazines and newspapers and books.
Indeed. Even being a GenXer/80s kid, we did. Today? Dude! thats so retro!
You know it’s funny. I just Flashed on this/off topic
The share knowledge thing I totally agree. As a hobbyist musician I read a number of music/production boards. synths/mixing/the tech stuff...all the back end things. and today, many pride themselves on the sharing of knowledge. you often see threads where people mention the bad old days when all the tips tricks and techniques were all black magic voodoo kept by the high priests of the studio. Closely and jealously guarded. Today the average teenager with a laptop and cracked software has access to all the secrets of the Beatles, Zepplin, Sinatra, Cash, elvis bla bla bla.
But you should see the levels of self censorship on those boards. Most musicos are hard left anyway but it’s like reading DU without the politics. There are so many things one just does not say. And should some newb stray, they are hit with a positively Soviet level of “you shall not sin against the orthodoxy!”
The net result is a whole lot of pins and needles with people afraid to share any info or knowledge outside what isd clearly and rigidly enforced. And I don’t mean forum rule stuff. I mean people to people stuff.