<
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jul/31/the-big-idea-is-it-too-late-to-stop-extremism-taking-over-politics>
"Welcome to the 2020s, the beginning of what history books might one day
describe as the digital middle ages. Let’s briefly travel back to 2017. I
remember sitting in various government buildings briefing politicians and civil
servants about QAnon, the emerging internet conspiracy movement whose adherents
believe that a cabal of Satan-worshipping elites runs a global paedophile
network. We joked about the absurdity of it all but no one took the few
thousand anonymous true believers seriously.
Fast-forward to 2023. Significant portions of the population in liberal
democracies consider it possible that global elites drink the blood of children
in order to stay young. Recent surveys suggest that around 17% of Americans
believe in the QAnon myth. Some 5% of Germans believe ideas related to the
anti-democratic Reichsbürger movement, which asserts that the German Reich
continues to exist and rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state. Up to
a third of Britons believe that powerful figures in Hollywood, government and
the media are secretly engaged in child trafficking. Is humanity on the return
journey from enlightenment to the dark ages?"
Via Christoph S.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
