The Cult of Social Media

The promise of large-scale globally-connecting projects, all tied to technological innovations, is always to foster understanding between peoples and cultures.

New generations of youth are always sold the story of great adventures to come in relation to leaving the comforts of their home town for travel, either to the 'big city' during the Industrial Revolution, or around the world for some these days in relation to the global "Belt and Road" or "New Silk Road" initiative, building infrastructure for the transport products and materials to and from China.

This initiative, dating back to 2012, coincided with firm indications in the scientific community that 'global warming' was no longer reversible; and consequently the earth's glacial ice would continue to melt, leading to rising oceans that would leave some coastal areas around the world totally under water. In 2020, we see the possibility that Louisiana may end up being one of these underwater areas in the near future.

So, while some adventures might have seen the "New Silk Road" as a large scale business project, others probably saw it as part of the transition to the "Age of Aquarius" in the year 2597, when all the worlds glaciers are expected to have melted

From one industrial age after the other, and now perhaps with this large-scale "climate-change" related construction projects, an "infrastructure age", the general public always seems to need just the right story supporting an idealistic, utopian future to motivate acceptance of change itself.

The best movie example of this idea is, of course, "The Titanic"; the story of the largest, most luxurious cruise ship ever built, generally affordable to only the super-rich. Yet one young artist, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, managed to win a ticket onto the ship, only to drown in the greatest shipwreck that we know of in modern times.

Yet, we must wonder, was the Titanic really a story of an isolated shipwreck, albeit a substantial one? Or rather a documentary of the fall of entire class of nobility during a time of social unrest or economic downturn? Was the character played by Leo DiCaprio truly an outsider to this elite class, or did his advance art skills indicate that he was also a part of this falling elite, losing his customer base for the luxury good known as art, due to an economic downturn.

We also consider in this context the story of the wartime German airship, the most famous of which was the Hindenburg, which also crashed. Once again, detailed by the finest luxuries. Is it truly possible for a motorized hot air balloon to survive the journey from Germany to England during wartime?

Getting back to the times we live in, with various boom-and bust large scale projects, we consider again the plight of the survivors. When the dust settles, and the hangover hits; when you realize your town is now deemed non-essential, like a spent coal mine, people enter the phase of either self-medication, or righteous indignation.

Quarantine life has forced many Americans back onto social media platforms. Old sites revisited, like unrequited loves. At the end of the day, more and more people submit to the ruling oligopoly, and realize that they should have never left their self-medicating days for the false promise of someday becoming more respected members of society.

The recently unemployed once again consider work-at-home jobs.

Yet, in truth, it seems, the more advanced our human society becomes, the more apparent it becomes that one's economy is still connected to one's personal circle. Stories written online seem only to be truly understood by those personal followers, whether friend or foe.

And one's entire circle sits online all day, like a fisherman laying back on the docks with his pole set; waiting for some new interloper who hadn't quite understood the relationship between Neil Young, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

Perhaps someone, young or old, would be intrigued by our words, our society our rituals, our secret handshakes; the illusions we create to hide the underlying truth that when the party's over, we all drink the same Kool Aide in the morning.