The Missing Stair
Everything is the best. Or it's the worst. There is no middle ground. There's no in-between.
This is 2014.
This is the world the internet has created.
And I'm sure there are those who think it's the worst thing to happen to humanity...at least since video games ruined our youth...or a television in every home rotted people's brains...or the printing press turned a generation or hard-working farm kids into lazy sods seeking to escape into fantasy.
Blame Twitter. Blame Facebook. Blame every internet site on the world that sacrificed journalistic integrity in favor of articles that drive page views with open comment sections where people can share there inane opinions in the most obnoxious ways possible because speaking with reason and intellect will not be tolerated when you can boldly declare in all caps that someone is JUST LIKE HITLER.
The rise of the internet has led to the rise of niche. There's no need to be diverse. Like a certain type of music? Then why listen to anything else? Better yet, why not get angry at anyone who dares to listen to anything else? Why not proclaim that what you like is better? And proclaim it LOUDLY? While also letting it be known that the other stuff SUX. It SUX just like HITLER.
The American political spectrum has never been more bifurcated. There are no more elected moderates. There's no room for seeing both sides. You have to join a team. You're either crusading for FREEDOM or EQUALITY. And anyone who doesn't agree is either LAZY COMMIE GOD-HATERS or GREEDY SELFISH BIBLE-BEATING FASCISTS.
Every single discussion we have--especially online--is taken to extremes. To the point that just having an original opinion or thought is enough to make your best friend hold a grudge because you dared to speak up. Every athlete is the best or a COMPLETE FUCKING FAILURE. True Detective is amazing and if you suggest it's just a B+ that could use some work then you DON'T FUCKING GET IT. Woody Allen is a monster and anyone who likes his work SUPPORTS RAPE CULTURE. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a genius and the Marlon Brando of his generation and if you suggest that Brando would have never acted in a dystopian trilogy for teenage girls then you are an INSENSITIVE PRICK. The Wolf of Wall Street is overrated and anyone who says otherwise is a SLEAZY HORNBALL or PRETENTIOUS SNOB.
If you don't like what someone is doing in any aspect of life--even some online competition--there is no longer a need to live and let be. There is wrong. There is right. There is no gray. And if you don't rally instantaneously to let everyone know what side you're on, then you might be left behind. Neutralize all threat. Destroy or humiliate everyone on the other side. Nothing else will be tolerated.
There is no more middle. It's left or right. Bottom or top. No room for mixed opinion. It's been eradicated.
Progress?
This is 2014.
This is the world the internet has created.
And I'm sure there are those who think it's the worst thing to happen to humanity...at least since video games ruined our youth...or a television in every home rotted people's brains...or the printing press turned a generation or hard-working farm kids into lazy sods seeking to escape into fantasy.
Blame Twitter. Blame Facebook. Blame every internet site on the world that sacrificed journalistic integrity in favor of articles that drive page views with open comment sections where people can share there inane opinions in the most obnoxious ways possible because speaking with reason and intellect will not be tolerated when you can boldly declare in all caps that someone is JUST LIKE HITLER.
The rise of the internet has led to the rise of niche. There's no need to be diverse. Like a certain type of music? Then why listen to anything else? Better yet, why not get angry at anyone who dares to listen to anything else? Why not proclaim that what you like is better? And proclaim it LOUDLY? While also letting it be known that the other stuff SUX. It SUX just like HITLER.
The American political spectrum has never been more bifurcated. There are no more elected moderates. There's no room for seeing both sides. You have to join a team. You're either crusading for FREEDOM or EQUALITY. And anyone who doesn't agree is either LAZY COMMIE GOD-HATERS or GREEDY SELFISH BIBLE-BEATING FASCISTS.
Every single discussion we have--especially online--is taken to extremes. To the point that just having an original opinion or thought is enough to make your best friend hold a grudge because you dared to speak up. Every athlete is the best or a COMPLETE FUCKING FAILURE. True Detective is amazing and if you suggest it's just a B+ that could use some work then you DON'T FUCKING GET IT. Woody Allen is a monster and anyone who likes his work SUPPORTS RAPE CULTURE. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a genius and the Marlon Brando of his generation and if you suggest that Brando would have never acted in a dystopian trilogy for teenage girls then you are an INSENSITIVE PRICK. The Wolf of Wall Street is overrated and anyone who says otherwise is a SLEAZY HORNBALL or PRETENTIOUS SNOB.
If you don't like what someone is doing in any aspect of life--even some online competition--there is no longer a need to live and let be. There is wrong. There is right. There is no gray. And if you don't rally instantaneously to let everyone know what side you're on, then you might be left behind. Neutralize all threat. Destroy or humiliate everyone on the other side. Nothing else will be tolerated.
There is no more middle. It's left or right. Bottom or top. No room for mixed opinion. It's been eradicated.
Progress?