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That's your concern? Really? I'm not sure I agree with the rest of the article; it made some bad points and some good ones. And I certainly don't think it's cl

by Lazare 6y ago

That's your concern? Really? I'm not sure I agree with the rest of the article; it made some bad points and some good ones. And I certainly don't think it's clear that the fabric of society is in danger of breaking for the exact reasons the author listed, and that this can be solved by adoption the exact solutions the author advocates for. (Again, I'm not saying it's not true, just that I remain unconvinced.) But... ...it's pretty god damn clear that the fabric of society is in danger of breaking down, certainly in the context of the US, and arguably in the context of the West as a whole. Glance at the news, fill in your own list: Covid, antivaxxers, Portland, deficits, pension crisis at state and local government level, the increasing partisan divide, the collapse of the business models of traditional media, rampant conspiracy theories, BLM riots, anti-protect violence from the police, the balkanization of the news people consume, Trump, collapsing trust in institutions, increasing politicization of the courts, the stunning lack of Senate confirmed appointees in the current administration, etc., we could go on. At some point we're going to get a Covid vaccine, and we're going to need to launch a massive nation-wide vaccination campaign, but in the current climate literally everything is partisan, a decent chunk of the population has convinced themselves Covid is a hoax, people are resorting to violence when asked to wear a mask. How's that vaccination campaign going to go? Meanwhile the economy is lurching towwards a cliff. When Covid hit the US, it was at the end of the longest economic expansion in US history, but rather than store up resources for the inevitable contraction, the US was running unprecedented deficits. Now Covid has hit; what happens next? Especially if societal dysfunction prevents a coordinated response? And so on, and so forth. I mean, obviously everything could be fine, but if your concern is that "the fabric of society is in danger of breaking" is just too hyperbolic, I think you need to open your eyes. You can point fingers where you like (and we do, which is a big part of the problem!) but regardless of who is to blame, things are not good.

luckylion 6y ago
> Glance at the news, fill in your own list That's the point of "the news" though: to keep you engaged by providing a daily crisis for you to worry about, because that makes you watch thew news. If one crisis goes away, or viewers get bored of it, a new one pops up and the old one is gone. Remember how we were supposedly "this close" to ww3 in February or March because of Iran? Monster Of The Week Shows need monsters or they lose their audience.
- throwanem 6y ago
  That there exists an industry whose stock in trade is making every problem look like the end of the world, doesn't mean no problems exist.
- MauranKilom 6y ago
  I remember times when the big news were about some celebrity doing something dumb, some sports club doing something exciting, the oil price going up or down or some proposed law being contentious. [Note: This is outside the US.] It could just be me growing older and/or the news that I'm consuming becoming more globally focused. But are you really suggesting that 20 years ago we had issues comparable to the US giving up on pandemic response, to BLM, to impending climate catastrophe and rising fascism everywhere in the world? Just that the headlines in the news always have the same font size doesn't mean that the news is always equally dramatic. This goes both ways.

by Lazare 6y ago

luckylion 6y ago

> Glance at the news, fill in your own list That's the point of "the news" though: to keep you engaged by providing a daily crisis for you to worry about, because that makes you watch thew news. If one crisis goes away, or viewers get bored of it, a new one pops up and the old one is gone. Remember how we were supposedly "this close" to ww3 in February or March because of Iran? Monster Of The Week Shows need monsters or they lose their audience.

throwanem 6y ago
That there exists an industry whose stock in trade is making every problem look like the end of the world, doesn't mean no problems exist.
MauranKilom 6y ago
I remember times when the big news were about some celebrity doing something dumb, some sports club doing something exciting, the oil price going up or down or some proposed law being contentious. [Note: This is outside the US.] It could just be me growing older and/or the news that I'm consuming becoming more globally focused. But are you really suggesting that 20 years ago we had issues comparable to the US giving up on pandemic response, to BLM, to impending climate catastrophe and rising fascism everywhere in the world? Just that the headlines in the news always have the same font size doesn't mean that the news is always equally dramatic. This goes both ways.