Thanks, Matt. Appreciate the update and info. You seem like one of the last "normal" people in journalism anymore--able to relate to what real people experience. Your free speech focus has been invaluable. Of course, a better writer than 99.999% of people. I also worry about the reduction in information availability. I can still find things via google but have to scroll through so much more junk to find the real info I'm searching for. Keep fighting the good fight.
Like any other addition, TikTok/internet addiction won't be reversed until the addict hits rock bottom and WANTS to get better. That's always the first step in recovery. A couple years ago I went out 'with the boys' after our softball game -- but 10 minutes in, and I was the only one not playing on his phone. I remember wondering why we were even 'out' to begin with if not for the social interaction.....
If we're lucky, within a few years the kids will think it's actually cool to talk with others instead of to your phone..........
The most subversive thing you can do is stay healthy and fit--- mind and body---sober, and thinking for yourself. I'm actively working to strengthen my brain, regain my ability to focus, read at length, process and retain information. The negative neurological impact of socal media is real. Keep up the good fight, Matt!
Your America This Week segment with Walter Kirn help to keep me sane - and my favorite segments are your discussions on short stories that relate to topics that you have featured. When I was a kid I was able to sit in my tent (yes I had one that my parents got me with a zipper) and read books. I read the Secret Garden, and the Autobiography of Malcolm X and Soul on Ice and the Iliad - and I was not that old - maybe 12 or so. I am sure I didn't fully grasp the stories, but I absolutely was able to be still with myself and absorb as much as I could at that age. I now find that, perhaps because of social media and cell phones and texts, that I don't have the same ability to concentrate. Listening to you and Walter I realize how much I miss just sitting outside and reading. Now thinking about the kids who never have had that experience and it's a tremendous loss. You two have a wonderful knowledge of all kinds of literature from American writers to Russian novelists. I always look forward to this segment and can't wait to hear your next podcast. Thank you for everything you do to keep the rest of us sane.
Perfect timing for this article. Just today someone started a conversation with me about politics stating how evil one specific person is and how there is no comparison to the 'good guys.' I responded with a comment like 'corruption is bi-partisan' and the guy went absolutely bonkers threatening to never ever talk to me again. That was the moment when I had no doubt that Brains have been completely pulverized with manufactured rage. The signals are talking. Our bodies and brains have become hyper receptors. It doesn't take much to ignite embedded feelings of rage.
Don't worry about putting us on lists Matt. Anyone reading your content is already slated for re-education once the camps are unveiled. Can't wait to meet you all there in person finally. Cheers.
Today's dopamine-driven culture is all about instant gratification. It's not that the desire to experience gratification is anything new, it's that the internet presents us with unprecedented access to such rewards, with the result being the ruthless monetization of our attention.
"Thinking for oneself" is a dangerous, white Western way of knowing that in the past has caused harm to under-represented groups (or some such thought-terminating drivel)—this would have sounded bizarre and impossible even a decade ago, but is now the hill our liberal "thinking" classes are willing to die on as well as the rock they've built their church upon.
As we all know if we're here, to be a member of the Western "thinking" class in good standing in the second decade of the 21st century means that under no circumstances should one ever be caught actually thinking in public, as this might lead one to repeat "extremist" "disinformation" that could cause unspecified harms to the "marginalized", up to and including suicide or genocide.
Thus our culture and educational establishments, from the heights of the Ivy League down to your local PTA or concert hall, has embraced a hard-edged form of anti-thought and replaced fact and truth with sanctimonious and punitive dogma designed to 1) make us all hate each other, 2) make us all afraid to think or speak anything but what our betters allow; and 3) poison our brains and souls to the point where society is dissolved and they are "forced" to step in and rule over their created chaos.
We are in desperate need of an intellectual and cultural revolution, where our elite "experts" and all the other self-appointed scolds and petty tyrants hoping to dominate our "cognitive infrastructure" are dethroned, mocked and scorned, and chased far away from any lever of power.
I blew off 451 in HS, so I came to it as a late, voluntary reader. I knew the headline plot about voluntary book destruction, but what captivated me about the book was his wife - standing in a room of giant video walls, talking to NPCs in some dramatic game, completely disconnected from society and completely clueless as to the world her government was creating. As I recall, she was still blissfully ignorant, talking to her computer-generated friends, as the bombs fell on the city.
Of all the prophetic achievements of Bradbury, that for me, is the ultimate one.
I'm 58 and I have been meeting younger musicians at open mics for the last couple years and I have been pleasantly surprised at the level of political awareness in this demographic. They generally know that 1984 is non fiction and that the news is full of doublespeak. Contrarily I have worked with progressive local politicians and volunteers and I find them to be easily misled, like actual characters in the novel.
How about if Racket readers could get together in real life? Maybe it's not just a Racket project. Maybe Racket, Public, Free Press and others could combine their lists to make this happen. Probably the most interesting group of people in the world now, because they self-selected to see through the propaganda. Maybe somebody could teach me how to maintain a motorcycle. It may start a movement to save brain cells.
Thanks, Matt. Appreciate the update and info. You seem like one of the last "normal" people in journalism anymore--able to relate to what real people experience. Your free speech focus has been invaluable. Of course, a better writer than 99.999% of people. I also worry about the reduction in information availability. I can still find things via google but have to scroll through so much more junk to find the real info I'm searching for. Keep fighting the good fight.
Like any other addition, TikTok/internet addiction won't be reversed until the addict hits rock bottom and WANTS to get better. That's always the first step in recovery. A couple years ago I went out 'with the boys' after our softball game -- but 10 minutes in, and I was the only one not playing on his phone. I remember wondering why we were even 'out' to begin with if not for the social interaction.....
If we're lucky, within a few years the kids will think it's actually cool to talk with others instead of to your phone..........
The most subversive thing you can do is stay healthy and fit--- mind and body---sober, and thinking for yourself. I'm actively working to strengthen my brain, regain my ability to focus, read at length, process and retain information. The negative neurological impact of socal media is real. Keep up the good fight, Matt!
Your America This Week segment with Walter Kirn help to keep me sane - and my favorite segments are your discussions on short stories that relate to topics that you have featured. When I was a kid I was able to sit in my tent (yes I had one that my parents got me with a zipper) and read books. I read the Secret Garden, and the Autobiography of Malcolm X and Soul on Ice and the Iliad - and I was not that old - maybe 12 or so. I am sure I didn't fully grasp the stories, but I absolutely was able to be still with myself and absorb as much as I could at that age. I now find that, perhaps because of social media and cell phones and texts, that I don't have the same ability to concentrate. Listening to you and Walter I realize how much I miss just sitting outside and reading. Now thinking about the kids who never have had that experience and it's a tremendous loss. You two have a wonderful knowledge of all kinds of literature from American writers to Russian novelists. I always look forward to this segment and can't wait to hear your next podcast. Thank you for everything you do to keep the rest of us sane.
Thx, Matt! I have been feeling saturated of late about EVERYTHING. This post is refreshing because it is forward thinking, and I want to move forward.
Perfect timing for this article. Just today someone started a conversation with me about politics stating how evil one specific person is and how there is no comparison to the 'good guys.' I responded with a comment like 'corruption is bi-partisan' and the guy went absolutely bonkers threatening to never ever talk to me again. That was the moment when I had no doubt that Brains have been completely pulverized with manufactured rage. The signals are talking. Our bodies and brains have become hyper receptors. It doesn't take much to ignite embedded feelings of rage.
Don't worry about putting us on lists Matt. Anyone reading your content is already slated for re-education once the camps are unveiled. Can't wait to meet you all there in person finally. Cheers.
Today's dopamine-driven culture is all about instant gratification. It's not that the desire to experience gratification is anything new, it's that the internet presents us with unprecedented access to such rewards, with the result being the ruthless monetization of our attention.
"Thinking for oneself" is a dangerous, white Western way of knowing that in the past has caused harm to under-represented groups (or some such thought-terminating drivel)—this would have sounded bizarre and impossible even a decade ago, but is now the hill our liberal "thinking" classes are willing to die on as well as the rock they've built their church upon.
As we all know if we're here, to be a member of the Western "thinking" class in good standing in the second decade of the 21st century means that under no circumstances should one ever be caught actually thinking in public, as this might lead one to repeat "extremist" "disinformation" that could cause unspecified harms to the "marginalized", up to and including suicide or genocide.
Thus our culture and educational establishments, from the heights of the Ivy League down to your local PTA or concert hall, has embraced a hard-edged form of anti-thought and replaced fact and truth with sanctimonious and punitive dogma designed to 1) make us all hate each other, 2) make us all afraid to think or speak anything but what our betters allow; and 3) poison our brains and souls to the point where society is dissolved and they are "forced" to step in and rule over their created chaos.
We are in desperate need of an intellectual and cultural revolution, where our elite "experts" and all the other self-appointed scolds and petty tyrants hoping to dominate our "cognitive infrastructure" are dethroned, mocked and scorned, and chased far away from any lever of power.
Defund the Thought Police!
Viva Taibbi!
I read such wonderfully rich writing on Substack. It's like going back in time. The human spirit flourishing again. 😀
I blew off 451 in HS, so I came to it as a late, voluntary reader. I knew the headline plot about voluntary book destruction, but what captivated me about the book was his wife - standing in a room of giant video walls, talking to NPCs in some dramatic game, completely disconnected from society and completely clueless as to the world her government was creating. As I recall, she was still blissfully ignorant, talking to her computer-generated friends, as the bombs fell on the city.
Of all the prophetic achievements of Bradbury, that for me, is the ultimate one.
I'm 58 and I have been meeting younger musicians at open mics for the last couple years and I have been pleasantly surprised at the level of political awareness in this demographic. They generally know that 1984 is non fiction and that the news is full of doublespeak. Contrarily I have worked with progressive local politicians and volunteers and I find them to be easily misled, like actual characters in the novel.
Broke out in a cold sweat a few paragraphs into this article when I realized it contains no cat videos.
Matt Taibbi you are an absolute treasure- the literary world would be boring without you in it. Keep writing whatever, I read and enjoy all of it.
"the work of cartoon pseudo-intellectuals like Yuval Noah Harari, who seem really to think nothing good or interesting happened until last week"
Matt, you owe me the coffee I spit out at my monitor. (And cartoon? Winsor McCay would like a word)
How about if Racket readers could get together in real life? Maybe it's not just a Racket project. Maybe Racket, Public, Free Press and others could combine their lists to make this happen. Probably the most interesting group of people in the world now, because they self-selected to see through the propaganda. Maybe somebody could teach me how to maintain a motorcycle. It may start a movement to save brain cells.