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Has anyone considered that the "rise of misinformation" and Qanon-type conspiracy discourse is just a symptom of elite and institutional decadence?

• keiferski 5y ago
  I haven’t really followed the Q-Anon thing well enough to know much about it, but it definitely does strike me as a consequence of institutional decadence. I’m not sure the content of the conspiracy is actually relevant. Most people want to trust the information they’re told, so the popularity of such things does seem like a symptom and not a cause.
• WalterGR 5y ago
  elite and institutional decadence What does that mean? I googled "institutional decadence" but am still not clear on the definition. Could you give some examples of elite and institutional decadence?
  • keiferski 5y ago
    Not the OP, but this just refers to the gradual erosion of many institutions in American society. Universities, media, political structures, etc. have all lost the trust of the populace over the last ~30 years, if not longer. Whether this is from an actual lowering of standards or just an inevitable consequence of new media is a different question. I’d suggest reading works by a critic named John Simon for the former opinion.
    • WalterGR 5y ago
      Hmm... When I think of decadence I think of Marie Antoinette allegedly asking "Why don't they just eat cake?" Like, actual decadence. In this context is "decadence" being used as a loaded word? At university I never saw professors or administrators popping Cristal and making it rain hundos, for example. (Edit: For the record, I didn't downvote you. One can't downvote a comment one is responding to.)
      • vharuck 5y ago
        "Decadence" actually has the same root as "decay." It just became synonymous with indulgence over time. Probably because a sign of social decay is when the elite have too much money and start splurging on ridiculous things.
    • jandrese 5y ago
      I see that as a natural result of the constant propaganda campaign against inconvenient truths. Discredit experts at every turn so you can push your own narrative.
      • keiferski 5y ago
        Constant propaganda by who? Where? And for the last 50-100 years? That sounds absurd and conspiratorial. As I said above, I think the loss of trust in expertise is probably just a natural consequence of the Internet, combined with very real actions by specific institutions. I used the example of the printing press because a similar situation happened with the Catholic Church.
        • croon 5y ago
          > Constant propaganda by who? Where? And for the last 50-100 years? > That sounds absurd and conspiratorial. Also: > Not the OP, but this just refers to the gradual erosion of many institutions in American society. Universities, media, political structures, etc. have all lost the trust of the populace over the last ~30 years, if not longer. Pot, meet kettle. Yours is an enormously unlikely conspiracy. Yellow journalism, ie constant propaganda (or charitably click bait) is exceedingly cheap to produce, and delegitimizing "everything" brings everything down to the same level, which has various win states. Universities, media, and political structures all have separate value functions that might or might not intersect over time (if we can be reductive enough to discuss them as monoliths). That they would be further reduced to one organism pushing a single agenda is, quite frankly, absurd.
          • keiferski 5y ago
            You don’t seem to have understood my comment. I’m describing an observable phenomenon, not saying a there is a conspiratorial group which made it so. It has nothing to with agendas or ideologies.
            • croon 5y ago
              I don't understand your comment. The comment you were responding to was also describing an observable phenomenon (regardless of intent). You were putting these against each other and ascribing intent (and attacking that) to one, but now ignoring it in yours. The internet is spammed daily by non-news "news sites" (usually behind privacy shield and without any about page, and no history to examine), blogs, tweets, facebook posts, emails attacking by misrepresenting established institutions. I get exposed to it constantly. I can't know who/where from or why, but I can definitely state that it happens. If we are merely stating observable phenomenons, then fine, but then I don't get the point of your original comment regardless.