Points to Ponder
A brief treatise on campaign yard signs and trench warfare
Up until about 20+ years ago, it was possible (and even likely) that most people had friends with beliefs that were diametrically opposed to their own. Your neighbor could be a raging lib (or vice versa, if you're a lib) and you'd never know the details of their beliefs. You would MAYBE know they voted for a candidate you despised, but only if they had a campaign sign stuck in their lawn. However, it wasn't something people discussed in polite company, and you could still attend the same barbecues or drink a couple beers without confrontations, fights, or tantrums.
The Internet generally, and social media in particular, changed all that. People began posting their most virulent thoughts and ridiculous beliefs online, and even when doing so anonymously (which was and is 99.9% of the time) they became more and more outraged at seeing thoughts and opinions that differed from their own. They became more and more angry online, and that anger spilled into day-to-day interactions.
A sign in the yard went from being just a sign, to an identifier of the enemy, someone who must be hated and crushed. And, that's just the political fall-out. Even greater declines have occurred with the moral and ethical descent of society. For the topper . . . IQ levels began dropping, and continue to plummet. It's all thanks to the Internet generally, and social media specifically.
When the fall of civilization in the 20th century is recorded (assuming there's anyone left to record it) the blame will fall soundly at the feet of the social media/tech moguls who made it possible. Historians will be amazed that billions of people, worldwide, allowed themselves to be manipulated by technology that came from the brains of autistic computer nerds lacking even the tiniest measure of empathy, compassion. common sense, or social skills (aka: sociopaths).
The Internet basically turned most people into mouth-breathing, tongue-chewing ass-hats who felt compelled to share the innermost thoughts and bizarre desires that would best be kept confined in their own minds.
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