It's amusing, and also damning, the idea that American civil society, designed pre-electricity, is somehow incapable of retaining civility without electricity.

It's amusing, and also damning, the idea that American civil society, designed pre-electricity, is somehow incapable of retaining civility without electricity. I say amusing in a very condescending sense. We think of ourselves as modern, advanced, and really seriously quite a bit better, than our ancestors of only 150 years ago. And yet if the prediction of our devolution into uncivilized primal behaviors is true, our assessment as advanced or better is absurd on the face of it. But more interesting, is why is this the case? Have we so much more trust in technology, and so much less trust in civil institutions over time? And in a moment where we need to shift from one to the other, we simply can't do it, and therefore civilization implodes? If so, that's embarrassing. Or it should be.