The 4chan Phenom is just a Symptom of the Broader Trend
Response to “4chan The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump”
Painting the 4chan/anonymous crowd as losers is unfortunate, even if it is true. Blaming their condition on the false dichotomy of right and left keeps us (intentionally?) ignorant of the macro-causes: declining wages, the declining number of well paying jobs, the rise of part time employment which pushes more and more of us to society’s fringe. These are all symptoms of the larger trend; capital moving from workers to shareholders, and ever increasing automation making human labor obsolete. Today 40% of workers in the US are contractors. That number is going to 50%, and will go higher as AI phases out the knowledge-based high paying jobs of today.
That virtual reality is a “retreat” should not surprise anyone. Why participate in a system that has no use for you, when you can jack yourself in, fuck your furry alpha, and get that virtual bachelor pad for pennies? VR will be many things, but it will be a sedative, like drugs, to help economic losers keep their dopamine levels up and their rebellious tendencies in check.
I don’t think any political group will be able to do much about this. The powers that be are too interested in maintaining the status quo, and have too much invested in their divisive, propagandistic media networks, which have become so successful at keeping us divided into factions, barking like dogs.
