@hightor,
Quote:...and everyone's opinion is of equal value because opinions are all political messaging amounts to since no one on these forums is doing independent research on anything other than what opinion some opinionated "expert" posted last night.
That is how the dynamic mostly plays out on social media, particularly when the subjects addressed are political, historical, philosophical, religious and/or scientific. That is, when the subjects are complex and often emotionally freighted and where education, reflection, open-mindedness and nuance are the proper and necessary modes of (or precursors to) truly valuable thought and discussion.
As we all understand, there was an initial eruption of enthusiasm with the advent of the internet. A key element to that enthusiasm was the faith or hope that "democratization" of information flows would work towards a leveling of discourse and that this would work towards reducing the perceived power and insularity held by the few and thus redistribute that power more fairly. I think it is clear such redistribution did happen. What is far less clear is that we had reason to be optimistic about that. Consider two cases: your child is seriously ill and so you get opinions from medical professionals along with opinions from your postman and people in the local pub. Or you wonder how to best grasp events in Ukraine so you turn to the knowledge and expertise of those who are there or who've long studied the matter and you also consult current popular celebrities and the guy on the street holding up the "Repent!" sign, weighting them equally.
And we are not helped in all of this by the long-standing American (but not just) antipathy towards and distrust of intellectualism, thus of experts, the well educated and any other such seen to be members of some "snooty elite". Similarly, we are not helped by the same sort of distrust of institutions where that distrust (though obviously necessary if done carefully) is merely kneejerk and undiscerning.
At the same time, the impulses towards leveling of power and influence are entirely understandable. That is, I think, a fundamental aspect of our human social nature or psychology. And it can work to everyone's benefit where power, influence and wealth are truly undeserved, which is often the case. But there are other elements of our social psychology which don't work to our benefit such as the clear tendency of some portion of every population who find comfort in agreement or consensus simply as a function of being/feeling validated and thus part of a community of brothers and sisters.
These are
not easy problems particularly in a period of rapid change and where many are having trouble getting by or are feeling powerless and where there's a sense that our trajectory into the future is fraught with significant dangers.
And if our topic is the possible development of a move towards fascism in Western (and other) governments, we probably ought to recognize that the present conditions are ripe for that. And we really ought to recognize that the notion that there is almost nothing to approve of or support in the existing order and that there is almost no one whom we can trust seems a pretty certain recipe to the realization of such fascism.
