The feel of the 2010's

[pattycakes_]

The problem with these kind of conversations is, I guess, the tendency to try to evaluate each decade or era within the frame of personal values or preferences. It's true that things were shit then, they are shit now and they are probably going to get shitter unless the hacienda is built. But it's easier to try to work out what might distinguish decades if you extract nostalgia or disappointment.

Maybe that suggests the distinction between the 10s and 20s. In the 2010s there were no utopias and all the escape hatches had been sealed shut. It was just disengagement, despondency, despair. But in 2016, in the ruins of the old orders, the belief in utopias, revolutions, new dawns, saviors and redeemers was a significant cultural and political reality. I mean, nobody expected it, but that made the fact that it was real even more significant.

Death throes. The rise of intellectual Chad, JBP, A Tate, Musk, the Roganosphere, CEO podcasts with massive cinematic intros, Marvel aesthetics, Gym memberships, the health and wellness explosion. People are desperate for heroes now. They want to feel like it's all going to be okay, but they feel powerless to do anything about it themselves. This is why I look to previous times where we maybe had a better grip on things to figure out if there is a way of reconnecting. Because right now we're basically in a state of shell shock and resultant delusional pathology. Maybe that comes across as nostalgia, but imo it's important to find a bridge.

 

[sus]

People not having kids is a disaster but that's just a continuation of industrialization trends and liberal brainworms

 

[sus]

The libs would all prefer to die out so that the breeder ideologies (Mormons, Muslims, Evangelicals) inherit the earth. The fact that this would be the end of liberalism is no concern to them.

 

[craner]

Death throes. The rise of intellectual Chad, JBP, A Tate, Musk, the Roganosphere, CEO podcasts with massive cinematic intros, Marvel aesthetics, Gym memberships, the health and wellness explosion. People are desperate for heroes now. They want to feel like it's all going to be okay, but they feel powerless to do anything about it themselves. This is why I look to previous times where we maybe had a better grip on things to figure out if there is a way of reconnecting. Because right now we're basically in a state of shell shock and resultant delusional pathology. Maybe that comes across as nostalgia, but imo it's important to find a bridge.

Maybe the 2010s was the Marvel Decade and once Endgame wrapped up, everybody snapped back to reality.

 

[sus]

It's a truly pathetic politics. Total disavowal of power. They'd rather be eradicated than take responsibility. Almost as disgusting as US imperialism, which was so viciously impatient to tile the planet with capital-D Democracy that it undermined its own cause (at the cost of human life)

 

[sus]

If only there were some sane middle ground between cultural imperialism and cultural suicide, that created life instead of taking life. But no I can't think of anything

 

[craner]

What did the classic Marvel cycle tell us about the era? That we are obsessed with time, memory, nostalgia and loss and that we yearn for meaning in friendship and family? Or that we need new Gods and this is the closest we have to that, out of old comic books? Or that we were all brainswashed by an omnipotent CIA-Pentagon-Hollywood PSYOP?

 

[craner]

It's a truly pathetic politics. Total disavowal of power. They'd rather be eradicated than take responsibility. Almost as disgusting as US imperialism, which was so viciously impatient to tile the planet with capital-D Democracy that it undermined its own cause (at the cost of human life)

We're defining a decade here, not owning the libs.

 

[sus]

I'm sorry I forgot we like to keep on topic around here

 

[craner]

I'm sorry I forgot we like to keep on topic around here

That's OK, just don't do it again

 

[craner]

The thing is, people do have heroes now. Lots of people believe in Trump, lots of people believed in Corbyn. It's important not to project your own despondency onto others or think that their loyalties or convictions are not genuine or enduring simply because you don't share them or you find them distasteful.

 

[pattycakes_]

Is this breakdown in communication and the proliferating and deepening social divisions precisely a symptom of the end of apathy?

Maybe the 2010s was the Marvel Decade and once Endgame wrapped up, everybody snapped back to reality.

Not sure if I agree that we've snapped out of it tbh. Yes, there are counter-movements but they're still more fringe than mainstream. The majority of people are happy, or at least believe they are happy with their apps etc. Entertaining themselves to death innit. This is why multiple forms of subversion weaved throughout mass media is so important. Keep people vital. Reduce complacency. Let them know they can do something.

 

[linebaugh]

With regards to tech, its the begining of complete and utter ubiquity of the web, but I think what defines the internet of the 10's to that of now is that the process of normalization is finished. Your mom is as online as you. Shes on all the apps plus some youve never heard of. Shes aware of internet lore that your horrified to see the recognition of in her.

 

[craner]

Not sure if I agree that we've snapped out of it tbh. Yes, there are counter-movements but they're still more fringe than mainstream. The majority of people are happy, or at least believe they are happy with their apps etc. Entertaining themselves to death innit. This is why multiple forms of subversion weaved throughout mass media is so important. Keep people vital. Reduce complacency. Let them know they can do something.

Yes, maybe you're right about this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to argue about whether it's a good or bad thing. I'm not talking about left wing activism or some kind of countercultural subversion. What I'm arguing is that, in general, there is more engagement with political ideas and movements and personalities than in the 2010s and that has been facilitated by the power and speed of mobile technology and social media. This has not necessarily led to positive developments, but it has led to developments.

 

[craner]

With regards to tech, its the begining of complete and utter ubiquity of the web, but I think what defines the internet of the 10's to that of now is that the process of normalization is finished. Your mom is as online as you. Shes on all the apps plus some youve never heard of. Shes aware of internet lore that your horrified to see the recognition of in her.

Integration into the everyday. The power and spread and speed of internet platforms and mobile technology changed political and social dynamics. It created a New Politics. It created the 2020s.

 

[pattycakes_]

The thing is, people do have heroes now. Lots of people believe in Trump, lots of people believed in Corbyn. It's important not to project your own despondency onto others or think that their loyalties or convictions are not genuine or enduring simply because you don't share them or you find them distasteful.

Of course, it's an archetypal drive. Not dissing anyone, not Trump supporters or even ol' Trump himself. He's a terrible cunt, but he's also a symptom of something much bigger than him. There was a rotten hole in the apple and he just managed to slip right in it, the slimy maggot. But the big we is being reflected back to us here. We're part of the apple too.

Yes, maybe you're right about this. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to argue about whether it's a good or bad thing. I'm not talking about left wing activism or some kind of countercultural subversion. What I'm arguing is that, in general, there is more engagement with political ideas and movements and personalities that in the 2010s and that has been facilitated by the power and speed of mobile technology and social media. This has not necessarily led to positive developments, but it has led to developments.

Right, and the good developments give us a bit more hope than we had in the 10s.

 

[linebaugh]

Authenticity has returned from the 90s and aughts after a decade of dormancy. Ones internal life is paramount and your web footprint is the map that reveals it and document to be audited. The progressive progress of the 2010s is revealed to be a failure now even at the level of pyschology.

 

[craner]

Authenticity has returned from the 90s and aughts after a decade of dormancy. Ones internal life is paramount and your web footprint is the map that reveals it and document to be audited. The progressive progress of the 2010s is revealed to be a failure now even at the level of pyschology.

One of the paradoxes of the 2020s is that it's much harder to lie about things so people tell more lies.

 

[Clinamenic]

The progressive progress of the 2010s is revealed to be a failure now even at the level of pyschology.

What do you mean? That moderate liberals, who have arguably been the target audience of social justice discourse and messaging, are somewhat reverting back to less woke, more moderate viewpoints? It kinda seems like that, from my perspective, but I don't know if I'm just projecting.

 

[craner]

The weaponisation of relativism.