One thing I also enjoyed about this piece was the mentions of centrist liberals who partook in these chats and made up the 'leftmost' flank. Mark Cuban, David Shor and others who were essentially running the Kamala campaign while spending half their time chatting with chuds.
There was also a chat named "Matt Iglesias #1 fan club" although this might've been somewhat ironic.
It's interesting to read this in light of Zuckerberg's latest viral comments about how people need more friends and he wants AI chatbots to fulfill that need. Especially considering how the chat windows in Instagram and WhatsApp already push their AI features, I wonder if there isn't some consideration about the way "anti-woke" AI could help push regular people rightward.
Also, the anti-democracy comments take me back to my time as a low level employee on Hillary's campaign in the general. One of the people I worked with was in his early/mid 20s from a wealthy family and a real diehard centrist DNC-type; anti-Bernie, etc. After we lost he was talking to a bunch of us about his family having dinners discussing the potential for a sort of technocratic dictatorship. He gave a long faced, wide eyed, smile and said something along the lines of, "they sound serious." I wonder how these elite groups interact.
Great piece and somewhat depressing. There's a lot wrong with our planet, but one thing is the celebrity obsession and the mad scramble to be recognized by thousands or even millions of followers. That relationship is a one way street, from the follower to the celebrity. And our celebrities are many, but one thing ties them together: They have and make lots of money, mostly peddling shit. These are the "global elites," and they have a certain gravitational pull. But mostly, it's all about quantity... You are someone if you have lots of cash, likes, followers. It says nothing about what that person is peddling, be it maudlin love songs using about 3 chords and the odd diminished minor to make it sound good, or some new crypto-cyber gimmick, another thinly disguised scam.
These folk, all of them, have replaced what was once called the intelligentsia and was poo-pooed by the proletariat as being the "elite." They don't care if you like them or hate them, as long as you have your eyeballs on them. Either way.... it's maintaining the collective dumbing-down of society as a whole...
Sorry about being a freeloader: I am retired-working as a journo with a family to support. I still write (one book a year, on wristwatches ;-)), have a long and colorful career behind me as a free lance, not always easy, but good, radio and print, with photography, translating, editing, etc... Today, we are "content providers." In other words: not worth paying... I can say this about much of what I see and read online.... it's mostly selfies in prose.
People are allowed to have political opinions and even change them. The article itself says they're not really any different from regular chat rooms. The idea that just because you're rich your opinions are of the utmost value (all respect to anyone's opinions) has kinda been proven wrong over and over again. They weren't the only ones who moved to Trump’s election nor who moved away. Following what people discuss instead of engaging with ideas, cultural changes and people (as people and not political beings) is probably not a better turn. If the sentiment is these rooms are meant to be private then they should be treated as private.
I suppose...its def an open question, i'd be interested esp if it opens strategies for saving ourselves...i have never experienced this in your work, but so often the media & our coworkers & everything in our lives cannot say anything real or clear...just endless churn of misdirecting tangents .
Has the ruling class not always collaborated on their dumb evil ideas in closed spaces? Is the problem not rly the group chat, but more that they are billionaires in the first place? more the material conditions? that they own the means of production & can therefore inflict their evil dumb ideas on all of us unrelentingly until ecological annhilation & they cant even stop themselves? Im just saying...i dont think its the group chat
I'm not blaming the group chats, just suggesting that the form of the capitalist class of this particular moment (who it consists of, how it wields its ownership of production, the possibilities of resistance, etc.) is going to be shaped by this particular technology, and likely going to be different in subtle but important ways from previous ruling classes
wow, it really is two (hundred) dumb bitches telling each other "exactlyyyy"
One thing I also enjoyed about this piece was the mentions of centrist liberals who partook in these chats and made up the 'leftmost' flank. Mark Cuban, David Shor and others who were essentially running the Kamala campaign while spending half their time chatting with chuds.
There was also a chat named "Matt Iglesias #1 fan club" although this might've been somewhat ironic.
Very interesting. Sickos of all stripes!
It's interesting to read this in light of Zuckerberg's latest viral comments about how people need more friends and he wants AI chatbots to fulfill that need. Especially considering how the chat windows in Instagram and WhatsApp already push their AI features, I wonder if there isn't some consideration about the way "anti-woke" AI could help push regular people rightward.
Also, the anti-democracy comments take me back to my time as a low level employee on Hillary's campaign in the general. One of the people I worked with was in his early/mid 20s from a wealthy family and a real diehard centrist DNC-type; anti-Bernie, etc. After we lost he was talking to a bunch of us about his family having dinners discussing the potential for a sort of technocratic dictatorship. He gave a long faced, wide eyed, smile and said something along the lines of, "they sound serious." I wonder how these elite groups interact.
Great piece and somewhat depressing. There's a lot wrong with our planet, but one thing is the celebrity obsession and the mad scramble to be recognized by thousands or even millions of followers. That relationship is a one way street, from the follower to the celebrity. And our celebrities are many, but one thing ties them together: They have and make lots of money, mostly peddling shit. These are the "global elites," and they have a certain gravitational pull. But mostly, it's all about quantity... You are someone if you have lots of cash, likes, followers. It says nothing about what that person is peddling, be it maudlin love songs using about 3 chords and the odd diminished minor to make it sound good, or some new crypto-cyber gimmick, another thinly disguised scam.
These folk, all of them, have replaced what was once called the intelligentsia and was poo-pooed by the proletariat as being the "elite." They don't care if you like them or hate them, as long as you have your eyeballs on them. Either way.... it's maintaining the collective dumbing-down of society as a whole...
Sorry about being a freeloader: I am retired-working as a journo with a family to support. I still write (one book a year, on wristwatches ;-)), have a long and colorful career behind me as a free lance, not always easy, but good, radio and print, with photography, translating, editing, etc... Today, we are "content providers." In other words: not worth paying... I can say this about much of what I see and read online.... it's mostly selfies in prose.
People are allowed to have political opinions and even change them. The article itself says they're not really any different from regular chat rooms. The idea that just because you're rich your opinions are of the utmost value (all respect to anyone's opinions) has kinda been proven wrong over and over again. They weren't the only ones who moved to Trump’s election nor who moved away. Following what people discuss instead of engaging with ideas, cultural changes and people (as people and not political beings) is probably not a better turn. If the sentiment is these rooms are meant to be private then they should be treated as private.
I suppose...its def an open question, i'd be interested esp if it opens strategies for saving ourselves...i have never experienced this in your work, but so often the media & our coworkers & everything in our lives cannot say anything real or clear...just endless churn of misdirecting tangents .
Has the ruling class not always collaborated on their dumb evil ideas in closed spaces? Is the problem not rly the group chat, but more that they are billionaires in the first place? more the material conditions? that they own the means of production & can therefore inflict their evil dumb ideas on all of us unrelentingly until ecological annhilation & they cant even stop themselves? Im just saying...i dont think its the group chat
I'm not blaming the group chats, just suggesting that the form of the capitalist class of this particular moment (who it consists of, how it wields its ownership of production, the possibilities of resistance, etc.) is going to be shaped by this particular technology, and likely going to be different in subtle but important ways from previous ruling classes