I’ve been thinking a lot about free speech recently, possibly due to over-exposure over the last few years to podcasters like Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, and the like* (also known as “thought leaders,” a phrase that has a kind of irritating and infantilizing tone to it—please, tell me how to think!), not to mention tech leaders’ mantras that free speech above all other values prevents them from doing anything about hate speech or misinformation on their platforms.
I wonder if our failure to respond to the seriousness of the pandemic is also tied to our tendency to overhype so much in the popular media. Every storm that gathers on the horizon gets a name and flashy, doomsday graphics on every news channel. When the actual event kind of fizzles, people just roll their eyes and go on about their lives. I suspect there was just a ton of underestimation of the seriousness of what was coming for us among many people, aided and abetted by the Carlsons and Hannitys of the world. Those assholes, and the politicians doing essentially the same thing, should be held accountable some way for the harm they've done.
I also want to comment that I just can't wrap my head around the quantity of podcasts and things you seem to be able to listen to, heh. I have only one that I listen to regularly and I tend to get weeks behind on it ... never mind the three or four I'd like to be following and don't. I sometimes think I must live on a different space/time continuum from other people. The volume of television some folks seem to have time for is equally mind blowing, and I mean people who are also making time to produce mass quantities of admirable work too! It boggles my laboring mind....
I wonder if our failure to respond to the seriousness of the pandemic is also tied to our tendency to overhype so much in the popular media. Every storm that gathers on the horizon gets a name and flashy, doomsday graphics on every news channel. When the actual event kind of fizzles, people just roll their eyes and go on about their lives. I suspect there was just a ton of underestimation of the seriousness of what was coming for us among many people, aided and abetted by the Carlsons and Hannitys of the world. Those assholes, and the politicians doing essentially the same thing, should be held accountable some way for the harm they've done.
I also want to comment that I just can't wrap my head around the quantity of podcasts and things you seem to be able to listen to, heh. I have only one that I listen to regularly and I tend to get weeks behind on it ... never mind the three or four I'd like to be following and don't. I sometimes think I must live on a different space/time continuum from other people. The volume of television some folks seem to have time for is equally mind blowing, and I mean people who are also making time to produce mass quantities of admirable work too! It boggles my laboring mind....