Right To Left Posted April 6, 2020 Report Share Posted April 6, 2020 7 hours ago, Michael Hardner said: 1. I'm not sure how the platform itself would do this, but that does seem to be the result yes. Yes! It might not be an intentional goal of Twitter and other social media like Facebook (which I dropped out of early on) to try to put people together in likeminded groups who are assumed to have the same interests and want to share the same things. But the end result is giant hive-minds that divide into enemy camps and are often completely unaware of what the other side is talking about, or what information they might have that could be useful. Quote 2. Well, many of us - present company included - have not had to use the reflection and thoughtfulness muscles until about 20 years ago when we joined online forums. ?? Quote The character of our 'public' life in N. America has been increasingly defined by commercial mainstream sources since the 1930s. These institutions are chiefly driven by advertising revenue and revenue-generating engines like Hollywood. Unsurprisingly, they have found that flattering the consumer helps achieve their goals. You should have watched the TV series "Mad Men," especially season one, when the shows were focused more on the nuts and bolts of the ad biz and how it was changing with the advent of television and hiring psychologists to study the motivations and reactions of test group consumers.....and make everyone filthy rich beyond their wildest dreams! See, what started happening in the 50's and thereafter, was marketers realized they weren't selling the product/they were convincing the potential buyer that they NEEDED the product! Thereafter both TV and magazine print ads started focusing on creating the want or the desire for the product. How many people buy stuff from bigger houses to new cars to new home entertainment crap, and have no practical reason why they bought it or even wanted it! Same with more mundane choices like: what kind of beer to drink etc.. Quote Nothing has replaced the old social necessities of patriotism and religious service in our public lives. For all of their flaws, those forces elevated selflessness in terms of challenging us to cooperate, to reflect and to improve ourselves... to the point of even sacrificing ourselves. I would say that we lost some good when we supplanted those facets of public life. Now we are Narcissus, looking at the beautiful image of ourselves as reflected in media streams. If liberal then they reinforce us as sensitive, caring souls who are rich in spirit. If conservative then they reinforce us as pragmatic and hard-working souls who drive our prosperity and the good life. And I would contend that both patriotism and religious faith have been subverted by capitalism in an age when wars are carried out for business interests looking to exploit previously unavailable resources, exploit people for cheap labour, and sell billions of dollars worth of weapons to carry out the job. Quote What needs to happen is that those of us who recognize that those tropes are empty and false should reboot the idea of the public, of the commoner who can consider ideas on their own merits without having to ape a bunch of suited conservative and liberal proxies who argue, as on CNN's Crossfire. Years ago, there used to be public tv and radio in the US, now it's all corporate sponsored and unable to challenge corporate ideology, like the virtues of free trade and globalization. Same here in Canada! I'm not sure what happened to the CBC in recent times, but it's not the same as it was 40 or 50 years ago, when both TV and radio would run some pretty radical, challenging content to the status quo. Those days seem to be long gone now. CNN and their adversarial "Crossfire" show is a good example of how a corporate-sponsored network frames and molds 'left' and 'right' within acceptable parameters. For example, show me the left side spokesperson on network TV who is anti-war? The debate is limited to 'how to conduct the war.' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankyMcFarland Posted June 3, 2020 Report Share Posted June 3, 2020 (edited) When the US President sees fit to sully the memory of a young married woman (and Republican BTW) on Twitter and falsely claim she was murdered after having an affair with Joe Scarborough, what can you expect? Social media as it currently functions may make representative democracy impossible. Edited June 3, 2020 by SpankyMcFarland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OftenWrong Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 19 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said: When the US President sees fit to sully the memory of a young married woman (and Republican BTW) on Twitter and falsely claim she was murdered after having an affair with Joe Scarborough, what can you expect? Social media as it currently functions may make representative democracy impossible. Why do you need to blame Trump for everything? Is it not clear that the world was a crap-hole prior to 3 years ago? The problem is not him alone. The problem is us. It was there under Obama, just not being shouted out in the papers against him daily. The problem will still exist after Trump too, as long as we have people with short-sightedness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Hardner Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 Wishing death on an individual isn't hate speech. Denying rights to groups of people is. Hyperbole and goalpost moving is still the way, I see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boges Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) The post Trump got flagged for advocated for shooting protestors. The post in the OP was wishing a COVID-19 related death on a political figure, Edited June 4, 2020 by Boges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankyMcFarland Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, OftenWrong said: Why do you need to blame Trump for everything? Is it not clear that the world was a crap-hole prior to 3 years ago? The problem is not him alone. The problem is us. It was there under Obama, just not being shouted out in the papers against him daily. The problem will still exist after Trump too, as long as we have people with short-sightedness. What did I write in my final sentence? Is Trump named there? I certainly do not blame Trump 'for everything' at all, as I have made clear. In the US, and elsewhere, you can add globalization and automation to other causes for alienation between the elites and everybody else. Trump is merely a symptom of America's malaise, a hastily mocked-up facsimile of white nationalism that may pave the way for something and somebody far more dangerous down the road. Edited June 4, 2020 by SpankyMcFarland 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OftenWrong Posted June 4, 2020 Report Share Posted June 4, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, SpankyMcFarland said: What did I write in my final sentence? Is Trump named there? I certainly do not blame Trump 'for everything' at all, as I have made clear. In the US, and elsewhere, you can add globalization and automation to other causes for alienation between the elites and everybody else. Trump is merely a symptom of America's malaise, There you go Spanky, that's more like it. Nowadays we've go to be very clear what we mean, lest the extremist drooling fools use it to mean something else entirely. Quote a hastily mocked-up facsimile of white nationalism that may pave the way for something and somebody far more dangerous down the road. Not sure about this part, but yeah ok. Edited June 4, 2020 by OftenWrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.9a49e1b2f22a6d34a345152c50044aa9.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.