Posted on 09/27/2023 4:31:23 AM PDT by MtnClimber
While we vaguely grasp that Facebook and TikTok are problems, few of us understand the breadth and depth of the smartphone’s role in a second American Revolution.
Christopher Rufo, Douglas Murray, and Victor Davis Hanson have all pointed out that we are in the middle of a cultural revolution that is assailing our culture, values, traditions, and institutions, our national security and sovereignty, our economy, our Constitution and rule of law, and our overall quality of life. The percentage of Americans saying they are worse off is at its highest level since 2009.
One of the most fascinating aspects of this obvious decline is that leftists have managed to convince a very large portion (in many cases a majority) of Americans to support the divisive and corrosive policies producing their own destruction.
What arguments have leftists used to accomplish this? Chiefly, though not exclusively, they have employed a trifecta of completely nonsensical tropes about race, gender, and climate. If you had explained to the typical American a half-century ago that, by the 2020s, America would be undergoing a fundamental transformation driven by new realizations about multiple genders, deep-seated and pervasive white supremacy, and a world literally close to incinerating, he likely would have laughed in your face. The absurdity of it would still be laughable if it weren’t so successful and damaging.
So how did it succeed? Rufo, Murray, and Hanson have done excellent work in explaining the history, concepts, and motivations behind the left’s long march through the institutions to the current revolution, from Marcuse through Bell. But there may be something more fundamental, and that’s how the revolutionaries communicated their message. That may help explain how they could get such a large portion of Americans to support such ludicrous policies (or at least vote for the people...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A lot of these people drive while texting so they should be a declining portion of the population.
No, the victims there are mostly pedestrians and motorcyclists.
Unfortunately they also take out people who aren’t as stupid as they are.
It has been just over 50 years since the microprocessor came on to the scene. This revolution seemed so full of promise to amplify our abilities and make our lives better, and in many ways it certainly has. But, we did not see how it could overwhelm our natural brains with garbage input, leading to confusion and conflict.
We also in the third phase in the evolution of the internet where peer-to-peer communication is commonplace. This was predicted back in the 90s. Think Facebook and Twitter.
The smartphone, and the Internet, unfortunately, have been the two greatest factors creating the stupidity, ignorance, self-absorption, and banality that pervades society.
The Internet, which gives people instant access to more information than could have been imagined previously, has had the ironic effect of making people more stupid and ignorant than ever before.
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It is more difficult to have road rage on a bike or in a convertible.
Remove anonymity and the Internet becomes a much nicer place.
Remote controls.
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