It is tremendously helpful to hear that someone recognizes this.
The entire "public sphere" has been destroyed. The only voices permitted are those of people who aide this program of destruction. The only "opposition" with a visible profile is from actors who are themselves seriously compromised. When they prove too troublesome their "sins" are trotted out to destroy them. Think of the "heart valve" the tyrant in Dune had installed in each of his subjects. They all continue to exist at the whim of their ruler.
In this atmosphere there is no oxygen for anyone "thinking outside the box." Anything that is not within some ever-rightward moving "Overton Window" of "public Opinion" just falls into an abyss of incomprehension.
The hardest thing about attempting to write what seems to me to be of value is that it most often appears to go nowhere. The "promise" of the internet, even here at Substack, is hollow. If there's no clearly identified agenda. That is, if a view does not serve the machine. Either as directly supporting it or acting as a "loyal opposition" it has no chance in Hell of "going viral…."
Of course, that would merely be the fastest way to be drawn back into the machine….
The only thing that is possible, that can actually mean anything, is for anyone reading this and finding anything of value here to reach out and make a connection. "Hearts" are easy. We all do it. But a direct response breaks through in a way that is outside the norms of "content consumption" we have been trained to accept as our place.
This not only cheers the writer! It also shows others that their own glimmers of recognition have not been an isolated aberration.
The current collapse into the most naked aggression and vile destruction is possibly a last gasp defense of the old paradigms; but, if we fail to see it for what it is; we risk being overwhelmed by the hatred, turning ourselves into the next generation of destroyers. At some point we need to recognize that this all must end.
"This all must end…." In the mouths of those consumed by hatred this is a call to complete the destruction of all that resists their hatred.
Thank you, Tony, for this deep study of human psychology. I agree with this reality, and it will take some time for me to come to terms with it.
Thank you Charles.
It is tremendously helpful to hear that someone recognizes this.
The entire "public sphere" has been destroyed. The only voices permitted are those of people who aide this program of destruction. The only "opposition" with a visible profile is from actors who are themselves seriously compromised. When they prove too troublesome their "sins" are trotted out to destroy them. Think of the "heart valve" the tyrant in Dune had installed in each of his subjects. They all continue to exist at the whim of their ruler.
In this atmosphere there is no oxygen for anyone "thinking outside the box." Anything that is not within some ever-rightward moving "Overton Window" of "public Opinion" just falls into an abyss of incomprehension.
The hardest thing about attempting to write what seems to me to be of value is that it most often appears to go nowhere. The "promise" of the internet, even here at Substack, is hollow. If there's no clearly identified agenda. That is, if a view does not serve the machine. Either as directly supporting it or acting as a "loyal opposition" it has no chance in Hell of "going viral…."
Of course, that would merely be the fastest way to be drawn back into the machine….
The only thing that is possible, that can actually mean anything, is for anyone reading this and finding anything of value here to reach out and make a connection. "Hearts" are easy. We all do it. But a direct response breaks through in a way that is outside the norms of "content consumption" we have been trained to accept as our place.
This not only cheers the writer! It also shows others that their own glimmers of recognition have not been an isolated aberration.
The current collapse into the most naked aggression and vile destruction is possibly a last gasp defense of the old paradigms; but, if we fail to see it for what it is; we risk being overwhelmed by the hatred, turning ourselves into the next generation of destroyers. At some point we need to recognize that this all must end.
"This all must end…." In the mouths of those consumed by hatred this is a call to complete the destruction of all that resists their hatred.
There is another meaning possible….