I blame the internet. It was meant to spread knowledge which it does but what it does far better is spread absolute fucking hateful bullshit.
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Iâm very much on the same page as you with this and could go on for some time about itâŚ
Weâve had two World Wars pre-internet, so it canât be blamed for all of humanities awful behaviour. Itâs always been there.
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Not the only reason of course but it does seem to have had a significant impact on some people and the way they think in general in a very short timeframe. Finger in the air says 15 years or so, maybe longer. Maybe itâs even a feeling I personally get from being on the internet too much and using it for so long.
Thatâs very true but those things didnât just happen either, they were caused by specific events or series of events. Just because bad things happened in the past without the internet/smartphones/social media it doesnât mean that we shouldnât look for the downsides and pitfalls of this really quite sudden and profound change in all of society.
I donât think there has been a massive change in society. Racism, religious lunacy and a nasty streak in humans has always been there, bubbling under the surface. The mainstream media has always chosen to mostly ignore it, if anything the internet is highlighting the fact itâs always been there and this is not some new trend/shift in societies attitudes. Itâs just that it was easier to sweep it under the carpet pre-internet and news was carefully controlled by the few, with often personal agendas.
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I donât mean I think that people suddenly got more racist (but I think quite a few have) but even if human nature is some sort of constant then the internet has still definitely changed things.
If keeping awful views mostly âbubbling under the surfaceâ or âswept under a carpetâ meant that we didnât get things like Trump or Brexit well then maybe that was the best we could hope for.
There was a time I thought that maybe itâs all just a long overdue conversation where reason and good sense would eventually prevail but Iâm beginning to feel a bit naive.
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Nowadays everybody thinks itâs their right to be famous (and not work), and everybody thinks their point of view is important (when it isnât) because they donât need ot stand on a box at Speakerâs Corner to be heard anymore.
And if youâre into something stupid, thereâs still going to be thousands of people able to tell you how itâs definitely not stupid. In the past youâd just be the Village Idiot, now you can be the Village Idiot with Facebook followers.
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Revolutions have happened and terror groups have been finding each other through other means for centuries.Yeah, itâs easier for idiots to connect with other idiots for sure. I bet itâs the ones not posting and ranting on the internet we should be scared of 95% of the time. Maybe we should all go read the Unibomberâs Manifesto (Industrial Society and Its Future)? He might of been on to something? Haha.
The internet has killed language.
And itâs sped everything up. You donât need to be going to a cafe day after day, trying to sniff out the people youâre looking for anymore. No more strangely-worded classified ads in specialist publications, no mass dropping of flyers, secret handshakes, or coded handkerchiefs. Just find the subReddit or forum for what youâre into - whether itâs five-a-side or white supremacy - and get stuck in.
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There probably is a white supremacy five-a-side league subReddit. I get all that, it makes things easier and faster, with no effort and the more people involved, they seem to think that gives them some sort of legitimacy or their views value.
Itâs also made things easier to see too. When is was all smoke and mirrors and meetings in shady backrooms, these things where hidden away from the world, now they are out on show. Which is better in away. Iâm just saying if you took the internet away these things wouldnât just suddenly disappear.
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Worth a viewing - just skip his musical interlude in the first few minutes.
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Big fan.
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Jesus. BBC going fucking savage on the PM here.
Not how I expected him to look honestly, annoying voice too.
His writing is deece though
Felt a bit like you were all set up to dislike him, so definitely glad to hear you dug it enough to pass over to the podcast lad.
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This article (daily mail, sorry) explains a lot âŚ
What an absolute shitshow
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I think his most recent affair has to be the most shameless and shameful of them all, heâll probably outdo himself in future though somehow.
The fact that heâd happily fuck a fishermanâs dog if it stood still long enough and heâll still probably stay in power says it all
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