I want to lazily but quickly refer anyone who’s reading this to a recent video from Hank Green and a Vox video from last year concerning Facebook. During her 60 Minutes interview this week, Frances Haugen revealed that political parties in Europe have written to Facebook, claiming that the platform is making their constituents’ views more polarized and extreme, leaving them with little choice but to alter their campaigns and policy proposals to fit in with these emerging viewpoints. This is a reminder that peoples’ identities are constructed and maintained through our engagement with all forms of media. You think you’re in control of your beliefs; you’re not. And that’s not just about intentional propaganda and division. These algorithms, left on their own, reinforce any oppressive identity categories that already exist, like what women “should” be doing or what poorer people “should” be doing. There’s little room for diversity of thought. Historian Yuval Harari has written about this… others have too… about how “individuals” are constructs of capitalism, and we “individuals” distinguish ourselves chiefly through the goods and services we buy, liberal and conservative alike. Subgroups are easier to market to, so the free market is incentivized to keep our interests concise as well as consistent. As the Vox report shows, cleaning jobs are marketed mostly to women, and lumber jobs mostly to men. If you come into these platforms with more questions about the world than answers, you will leave with more answers than questions. If you feel two ways about a social issue, or another way entirely, social media will force you to coalesce into one of the pre-approved stances, like a Schrodinger Box. We need to be humble and vigilant while we’re compelled to rigorously defend our identities in the Misinformation Age, because our identities exist at the convenience of corporations. Otherwise, societal oppression will go unquestioned and unchallenged, whether the humans in charge of social media want it to or not.
Tag: politics
Um… I Think South Park Just Criticized Liberal Media and No One Is Talking About It
SPOILER WARNING: Contains spoilers for the South Park Vaccination Special
CONTENT WARNING: Politics
Curiously, the argument between the anchor and reporter about the “passion” of the kids for stealing the vaccines and distributing them independently… this entire bit is absent from every review I’ve read about the episode. It’s not mentioned in any of the summaries.
Not AV Club. Not Indie Wire. Not Den of Geek, IGN, Collider, or even The Daily Beast.
For me, this was a big moment of the special. The news anchor argues that the anti-vaccine Q-Anon kids are just as valid in fighting for what they believe in as the pro-vaccine kids. Here, Trey Parker claims that you can use the same rationale to justify the acts of one group as the other. Since the initial confrontation between the two groups were reminiscent of the Capitol riot in January (ffs Butters waves that big U.S. flag), I’m preeeetty sure this as an indictment of the liberal media for their coverage of the BLM protests in the summer. I have seen conservatives and libertarians online pointing out a perceived hypocrisy of liberal media qualifying the Capitol rioters as “traitors” and “insurrectionists” and “seditionists”, while elevating any rioters during the BLM protests to an exalted status, or excusing their behavior as “frustration” with the system. Now, I personally do not think these events are equivalent. What I AM suggesting is that Trey Parker is probably making the comparison in order to admonish the liberal media for stoking acceptance of violence at police and property during the BLM protests. At the very least, Parker seems to posit that the Capitol rioters’ violent actions are logically consistent with their beliefs; it’s pointless to claim it was “senseless”, as the media often does. This criticism of liberals would be on brand for South Park, since Parker and Matt Stone have a solid history ridiculing any liberal or conservative who takes a belief as gospel and runs with it. Whether any of us agrees with Parker’s comparison or not, I think he is making it. Liberal outlets have already criticized South Park for its role in stowing political cynicism to the point of inaction, and for contributing to trolling culture. Why aren’t they talking now?
The referenced reviews:
South ParQ Vaccination Special Review: The futility of returning to normal (avclub.com)
‘South Park Vaccination Special’ Review: Comedy in Crisis — Spoilers | IndieWire
South Park Vaccination Special Review | Den of Geek
South Park: ‘South ParQ – The Vaccination Special’ Review – IGN
South Park Vaccination Special Review: A Hilarious Return to Normal (collider.com)
‘South Park’ Brutally Mocks Wacky QAnon Supporters in Vaccination Special (thedailybeast.com)
(Socially Sanctioned) Ego Is Making People Fear Guilt Instead of Making Society Less Awful
Conservatives and libertarians have a tendency to assume that every single thing you do is a personal choice, and a consequence of this thinking is that you assume that you choose to participate in systems of oppression. This is the reason why a white male may have a hard time understanding that he contributes to (or benefits from) racism or sexism. For these people, you choose to be racist or sexist. So the accusation is met with push-back. Unfortunately, this assumption of responsibility is an enormous barrier to the fight for racial and gender equity. You’ll deny the problem if you think you’re the cause. It seems that it’s more salient for them to believe they might be personally at fault for limiting other peoples’ freedoms than to believe that they just can’t control everything.
Already Ridiculous 