Fear and Loathing and Evil White Men
How the online blame game poisons paradise
There’s a chasm between this world and the other
A dizzying void between the online world and the real one. A cleft where crows circle beneath our feet, no bigger than beetles.
It’s a good thing, too. Because here in this online asylum, it’s nothing but shrill screeching and hysterical hatred. Our worse angels warring for online attention, saying anything they can to get a reaction. Online, there is no good or bad. There is only the seen and the unseen. If it bleeds, it leads, and soulless algorithms aim squarely at the dark circles around our hearts. You’re supposed to be angry and fearful and depressed. That’s the point.
Like any corrupt corporation, the Internet gets worse as it grows more powerful. The wild voices crowd out the more rational ones. Hate beats moderation every time. And the more we come to rely on the Internet, the more this twisted mirror looks to us like the real thing.
But it isn’t. Outside, blue birds sing instead of tweeting. Outside, the quiet trails wind through a forest incapable of hate. Outside, people smile and say hello and help each other when they can. Even if they’re Evil White Men™ like me.
