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Ross Douthat is author of ''The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success'', which, when read along with ''Amusing Ourselves To Death'' by

Ross Douthat is author of ''The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success'', which, when read along with ''Amusing Ourselves To Death'' by Neil Postman, might put a lump in your throat in the face of today's rampantly compulsive tech broligarchs and their enshittification of society.

dmix 7mo ago
Palantir turning into a movie villain caricature on the internet through breathless journalism is a great example of "Amusing Ourselves To Death". Journalists turned it into a great story that sounds straight out of a thriller TV show. But trying to spin unchecked growth in government power, a lack of accountability, and mindless consumerism as some sort of side effect of the new cabal of tech-bro elites rather than a persistent drumbeat that existed well before that is an unhelpful distraction that only makes people feel helpless. Nobody sells books by saying that our issues are a result of general neglect by society as a whole, only movie villains push numbers.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- frm88 7mo ago
  I would agree with you if it weren't proven fact that Thiel is a kingmaker - he created the current JD Vance turning him from being Anti-Trump ("I believe he is a bad man") to vice president with a Girardian mission in just 8 years. He is a demagogue and dangerous.
- zzrrt 7mo ago
  Consider that the current vice president has agreed with Curtis Yarvin saying things like we need to get over our dictator phobia and replace the government. I don't think that can be hand-waved as business as usual. The next phase in the persistent drumbeat, maybe, but it's a big step.
- CamperBob2 7mo ago
  unchecked growth in government power Like what we saw in Minneapolis, amirite?
- Nevermark 7mo ago
  You should probably come out of your comphy cave. Centralization of power isn’t a narrative it’s an accelerating reality. I am having a hard time thinking of a mode of power that isn’t far more centralized today than it was just 2, 4, 6, 8, … years ago.
  - ben_w 7mo ago
    > I am having a hard time thinking of a mode of power that isn’t far more centralized today than it was just 2, 4, 6, 8, … years ago. Electrical power. That used to be almost entirely centralised, but it's increasingly easy to be off-grid. Manufacturing power. I don't know the full dynamics, but there's clearly a lot of cheap good tools easily available, so the term "cottage industry" still makes literal sense. Comms. Twitter becoming X pushed a lot of decentralised alternatives with similar vibes. That said, if you go back 20 years, you get the pre-Facebook world and the pre-Twitter world for comms, but you lose cheap good home 3D printing and a specific district in China was becoming the obvious heavily centralised place for all modern consumer electronics to get made. Of course, go back to 1800 and you get something like, IDK, 70% of the world's internationally traded cutlery being made in Sheffield? I may be off by a lot there, that's just a rough guess given its dominance.
    - hshdhdhj4444 7mo ago
      3D printing hasn’t taken power away from anybody. The percentage of goods manufactured in the world that come from the set of the top 5 or top 10 or top 100 or top 1000 sources have all increased today relative to before. I agree on electricity though. Cheap solar panels have made distributed energy possible in a way that was unimaginable even 20 years ago.
      - Nevermark 7mo ago
        In a sibling comment, I point out that increasing long tails are not incompatible with overall mass centralization. Relevant to your comment, increases in 3D printing capabilities have not translated into a reversal of manufacturing centralization in China’s favor. That centralization continues as instability (often defended as an attempt to act against centralization) has perversely disrupted and pulled back manufacturing investment elsewhere. As an individual, you may be able to do more, or choose from more niches. Even as the vast majority of resources and impact flow to fewer entities by volume.
- boyoboy 7mo ago
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dmix 7mo ago

Palantir turning into a movie villain caricature on the internet through breathless journalism is a great example of "Amusing Ourselves To Death". Journalists turned it into a great story that sounds straight out of a thriller TV show. But trying to spin unchecked growth in government power, a lack of accountability, and mindless consumerism as some sort of side effect of the new cabal of tech-bro elites rather than a persistent drumbeat that existed well before that is an unhelpful distraction that only makes people feel helpless. Nobody sells books by saying that our issues are a result of general neglect by society as a whole, only movie villains push numbers.

deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
frm88 7mo ago
I would agree with you if it weren't proven fact that Thiel is a kingmaker - he created the current JD Vance turning him from being Anti-Trump ("I believe he is a bad man") to vice president with a Girardian mission in just 8 years. He is a demagogue and dangerous.
zzrrt 7mo ago
Consider that the current vice president has agreed with Curtis Yarvin saying things like we need to get over our dictator phobia and replace the government. I don't think that can be hand-waved as business as usual. The next phase in the persistent drumbeat, maybe, but it's a big step.
CamperBob2 7mo ago
unchecked growth in government power Like what we saw in Minneapolis, amirite?
Nevermark 7mo ago
You should probably come out of your comphy cave. Centralization of power isn’t a narrative it’s an accelerating reality. I am having a hard time thinking of a mode of power that isn’t far more centralized today than it was just 2, 4, 6, 8, … years ago.
- ben_w 7mo ago
  > I am having a hard time thinking of a mode of power that isn’t far more centralized today than it was just 2, 4, 6, 8, … years ago. Electrical power. That used to be almost entirely centralised, but it's increasingly easy to be off-grid. Manufacturing power. I don't know the full dynamics, but there's clearly a lot of cheap good tools easily available, so the term "cottage industry" still makes literal sense. Comms. Twitter becoming X pushed a lot of decentralised alternatives with similar vibes. That said, if you go back 20 years, you get the pre-Facebook world and the pre-Twitter world for comms, but you lose cheap good home 3D printing and a specific district in China was becoming the obvious heavily centralised place for all modern consumer electronics to get made. Of course, go back to 1800 and you get something like, IDK, 70% of the world's internationally traded cutlery being made in Sheffield? I may be off by a lot there, that's just a rough guess given its dominance.
  - hshdhdhj4444 7mo ago
    3D printing hasn’t taken power away from anybody. The percentage of goods manufactured in the world that come from the set of the top 5 or top 10 or top 100 or top 1000 sources have all increased today relative to before. I agree on electricity though. Cheap solar panels have made distributed energy possible in a way that was unimaginable even 20 years ago.
    - Nevermark 7mo ago
      In a sibling comment, I point out that increasing long tails are not incompatible with overall mass centralization. Relevant to your comment, increases in 3D printing capabilities have not translated into a reversal of manufacturing centralization in China’s favor. That centralization continues as instability (often defended as an attempt to act against centralization) has perversely disrupted and pulled back manufacturing investment elsewhere. As an individual, you may be able to do more, or choose from more niches. Even as the vast majority of resources and impact flow to fewer entities by volume.
boyoboy 7mo ago
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