Really interesting point about the decline of American Civilization

[wig]

I was watching one of my many "research programs". (Us conspiracy guys need to stay on top of world events, ya know.)

Any way this fella made the most valuable point I think I've ever heard in terms of a rational, clear, explanatory breakdown of what's happening with young "techno-elite" people today and why it means the end of western civilization as we know it.

Essentially this point (he makes several) is that because so many young and middle aged people today have spent their formative years tethered to social media devices and inputs, they (we, really) lack the ability to have meaningful discord based discourse. These techno-elite people are so "plugged in" to their twitter, instagram, FB and like social media feeds that they are neither willing nor even communicatively capable of extracting themselves from the warm, supportive womb of like-minded, but largely anonymous and distant blips and screen-names that make up their informational and social existence.

In short, because people have become so dependent upon their phones, their twitter feeds, their instagram posts and the FB pages (and even their Steeler Nation boards) they are honestly retarded communicatively. When someone offers a separate life-view, it is entirely too easy to blast that completely anonymous and invisible person on twitter and then block them forever. Furthermore this can be done in the safe cocoon of "same-speak" that the individual has created for himself or herself making an echo-chamber of positive feedback.

And the worst part? There's no going back. There can be no breaking of this cycle. we have become so dependent on our technology, our group-think and our perfectly insulated world views that truly nothing can break us from our unhappy state, much less our future generations who will be exposed to even more innovative technologies touted as "eye-opening" and "social" when in fact they are little more than attractively packaged shackles for our children's minds.

There is no escape. We have gone beyond the point where our technology has made us morons.

 

[Sarge]

I thought this thread was gonna be about Wal Mart. There is not a better place on Earth to visibly see the decline of American civilization.

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

Ha. I took a photo of my wife and other (hers) family during holiday dinner all on their device. Funny and sad all the same. While I 100% agree it's a problem I hardly see it as a downfall move of a part of evaluation. It is inevitable that humans and machines become inagrated. This is the first step.

I hate it personally. As a person who travels all the time for work I used to spark up some awesome banter at the bars at the airport or restaurant where I was at....now everyone(and me) is face down on there phones. **** when I meet my bud to go out half the damn time his phone is in his hand. Granted he isn't married and looking for play. But it just sucks.

There is good and bad with any tech. Downfall. No

 

[wig]

The issue is that folks 50 and over are the last vestiges of humanity who may actually be able to sustain a rationale and civilized debate about things they disagree on. And there probably aren't too many of them. We can look right to our own Political Forum threads to see that there is very little middle ground. Issues are decided, wall are up and folks be dug in like the trenches in WWI.

Every generation is going to become more and more self-segregated. This presidency has shown that people (on both sides) are completely incapable of talking and meeting in the middle. That art is lost.

 

[Ironcitysteelers]

Agree.

The reason I don't debate is I'm not intelligent enough nor do I care. And I'm fine with that. Why? BC it's a waste of my time, stress, ..etc as you can't "talk or discuss" anything without anyone getting so pissed off about that's not how I think bla bla Bla. Too many people can't just be humans everything gets in the way.

Hence the reason I have stopped watching news

 

[Spike]

It's not all bad...

Wal-Mart Removes 3-Box limit on .22 LR Ammunition

 

[ZonaBurgh]

Agree.

The reason I don't debate is I'm not intelligent enough nor do I care. And I'm fine with that. Why? BC it's a waste of my time, stress, ..etc as you can't "talk or discuss" anything without anyone getting so pissed off about that's not how I think bla bla Bla. Too many people can't just be humans everything gets in the way.

Hence the reason I have stopped watching news

Well, I'm certain it's not that you aren't intelligent enough, you're just smart enough to stay away from those that post with pure contempt in their heart. It's impossible to have a rational discussion with these individuals, and we all know who they are. The ignore button works well in these situations.
That's not to say everyone on this board that leans left fits this category, but I can think of at least two, and they aren't worth my time, and most likely not that of anyone else either.

 

[Elfiero]

I was watching one of my many "research programs". (Us conspiracy guys need to stay on top of world events, ya know.)

Any way this fella made the most valuable point I think I've ever heard in terms of a rational, clear, explanatory breakdown of what's happening with young "techno-elite" people today and why it means the end of western civilization as we know it.

Essentially this point (he makes several) is that because so many young and middle aged people today have spent their formative years tethered to social media devices and inputs, they (we, really) lack the ability to have meaningful discord based discourse. These techno-elite people are so "plugged in" to their twitter, instagram, FB and like social media feeds that they are neither willing nor even communicatively capable of extracting themselves from the warm, supportive womb of like-minded, but largely anonymous and distant blips and screen-names that make up their informational and social existence.

In short, because people have become so dependent upon their phones, their twitter feeds, their instagram posts and the FB pages (and even their Steeler Nation boards) they are honestly retarded communicatively. When someone offers a separate life-view, it is entirely too easy to blast that completely anonymous and invisible person on twitter and then block them forever. Furthermore this can be done in the safe cocoon of "same-speak" that the individual has created for himself or herself making an echo-chamber of positive feedback.

And the worst part? There's no going back. There can be no breaking of this cycle. we have become so dependent on our technology, our group-think and our perfectly insulated world views that truly nothing can break us from our unhappy state, much less our future generations who will be exposed to even more innovative technologies touted as "eye-opening" and "social" when in fact they are little more than attractively packaged shackles for our children's minds.

There is no escape. We have gone beyond the point where our technology has made us morons.

Actually it was nothing hi tech that made some here morons. It was just plain old A.M. radio.

 

[Steelin]

AM radio? My great great grandparents probably had am radio. Their descendants came to the new world with nothing and made lives for themselves. An AM radio didn't bring them down.

 

[Spike]

It's not just America, it's the liberal/socialist mindset of political correctness that's the problem



Canada criminalizes non-progressive thought

Do you think imposing so-called transgenderism on children as a sexual norm might be harmful to their moral development? Do you question the legitimacy of using made up so-called gender-neutral pronouns as replacements for the standard English words "he" and "she"?

If you answered yes, or even maybe, to either of those questions, then, as of today, you are in violation of Canada's Human Rights Code, and subject to fines, re-education, or – should you refuse comply and repent – prison time.

Canada's Senate has passed a "controversial" (read: fascistic) new law, Bill C-16, which adds "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the nation's hate crime laws – Canada being a world leader in legislating who should be hated and who shouldn't – thus effectively making it a crime for a business owner to "discriminate" on the basis of not wanting his male employee to wear a dress, or for a teacher not to use a nonexistent, politically correct pronoun whenever a student tells her to.

More generally, it makes a hate criminal of anyone who openly expresses a view not perfectly compliant with the zeitgeist on gender identity, transgenderism, or what have you. The debate is now, officially and legally, over.

In other words, a postmodern, nihilistic, neo-Marxist pseudo-theory of sexual identity and systemic oppression, dreamt up by some pretentious careerist professor of "queer studies" climbing out of the academic slime somewhere five years ago, has officially been declared the unassailable Absolute Truth by Justin Trudeau's government. Unassailable as in "alternative views will not be given a hearing." Unassailable as in "heretics will be burned."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/canada_criminalizes_nonprogressive_thought.html

 

[oneforthebus]

I was watching one of my many "research programs". (Us conspiracy guys need to stay on top of world events, ya know.)

Any way this fella made the most valuable point I think I've ever heard in terms of a rational, clear, explanatory breakdown of what's happening with young "techno-elite" people today and why it means the end of western civilization as we know it.

Essentially this point (he makes several) is that because so many young and middle aged people today have spent their formative years tethered to social media devices and inputs, they (we, really) lack the ability to have meaningful discord based discourse. These techno-elite people are so "plugged in" to their twitter, instagram, FB and like social media feeds that they are neither willing nor even communicatively capable of extracting themselves from the warm, supportive womb of like-minded, but largely anonymous and distant blips and screen-names that make up their informational and social existence.

In short, because people have become so dependent upon their phones, their twitter feeds, their instagram posts and the FB pages (and even their Steeler Nation boards) they are honestly retarded communicatively. When someone offers a separate life-view, it is entirely too easy to blast that completely anonymous and invisible person on twitter and then block them forever. Furthermore this can be done in the safe cocoon of "same-speak" that the individual has created for himself or herself making an echo-chamber of positive feedback.

And the worst part? There's no going back. There can be no breaking of this cycle. we have become so dependent on our technology, our group-think and our perfectly insulated world views that truly nothing can break us from our unhappy state, much less our future generations who will be exposed to even more innovative technologies touted as "eye-opening" and "social" when in fact they are little more than attractively packaged shackles for our children's minds.

There is no escape. We have gone beyond the point where our technology has made us morons.

It's interesting and I was saying something similar to my husband the other night. The rise of social media is largely responsible for the lack of civility IMO. It's easy to hide behind a keyboard and spew things that you would never, ever say to someone in person. Lots of people get all of their information in little bits and soundbites instead of deeply researching and analyzing an issue. The 24/7 flow of information means politics has become a year round sport where it was once something largely ignored until election season or a really major scandal hit.

As far as group think I like to think we've raised our kids to be free thinkers and analyzers and to listen and consider all points of view and a variety of sources. They don't agree with us on everything but none of them are particularly dogmatic in their viewpoints. It all comes down to parenting, like most things. People need to talk to their kids, not about what they should believe, but about how to intelligently and thoughtfully arrive at their opinions. It's something that is discussed regularly in our house, and I hope in many others. Don't let the educational system teach your children how to think. It does a very poor job of it.

 

[Supersteeler]

It's interesting and I was saying something similar to my husband the other night. The rise of social media is largely responsible for the lack of civility IMO. It's easy to hide behind a keyboard and spew things that you would never, ever say to someone in person. Lots of people get all of their information in little bits and soundbites instead of deeply researching and analyzing an issue. The 24/7 flow of information means politics has become a year round sport where it was once something largely ignored until election season or a really major scandal hit.

As far as group think I like to think we've raised our kids to be free thinkers and analyzers and to listen and consider all points of view and a variety of sources. They don't agree with us on everything but none of them are particularly dogmatic in their viewpoints. It all comes down to parenting, like most things. People need to talk to their kids, not about what they should believe, but about how to intelligently and thoughtfully arrive at their opinions. It's something that is discussed regularly in our house, and I hope in many others. Don't let the educational system teach your children how to think. It does a very poor job of it.

My complete refusal to even entertain the concept of social media from day one of it's creation is just one of the reasons that I am such a wonderful human being.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

The issue is that folks 50 and over are the last vestiges of humanity who may actually be able to sustain a rationale and civilized debate about things they disagree on. And there probably aren't too many of them. We can look right to our own Political Forum threads to see that there is very little middle ground. Issues are decided, wall are up and folks be dug in like the trenches in WWI.

Every generation is going to become more and more self-segregated. This presidency has shown that people (on both sides) are completely incapable of talking and meeting in the middle. That art is lost.

I'm over 50. Frankly I've backed off a bit on here and social media since my guy won and paying more attention to NASCAR and somewhat less attention to politics. Although somehow I ended up at a PA GOP State Committee meeting the last two days.

 

[Supersteeler]

I'm over 50. Frankly I've backed off a bit on here and social media since my guy won and paying more attention to NASCAR and somewhat less attention to politics.

That's good, you'll live a lot longer.

 

[CharlesDavenport]

I don't blame it on that at all. Once a republic loses their moral compass and behaves like a democracy on top of it, the end is in sight. Been in sight for decades now.

 

[wig]

Elfiero, I would argue that you are both victim and perpetrator.

While it is true you are a minority on a board that embraces a very like-minded view politically, I rarely see any effort on your part to engage in meaningful discussion either. Now, in fairness it is difficult to discuss when constantly being harangued and accosted on all sides. However the smaller liberal component of this board is certainly outspoken and quite entrenched in their belief system. You fellows are just as unwilling to engage in a reasonable debate as anyone else on the board as far as I can tell.

And yes, I hold myself right in the middle of this sad mess. We could all do with a bit more civilized discussion with actual rationale points of view and willingness to accept one another's viewpoints and much less "Trumptard" and "Libtard" if there was to be any real hope of at least respecting one another's positions if not agreeing.

I still hold it as a major point of shock and some pride that my opinion on a very significant and controversial topic was changed right here on this board because I was ultimately willing to listen to Dave (I know right? Who the hell EVER listened to Dave?) and seriously considered his point of view along with some other folks. Due to that I completely revamped my opinion about the validity and reasonableness of common citizens owning hand guns. I was against it years ago. And today I can't comprehend why any sane person would EVER try to disarm an American Citizen unless he had some very dark intentions. All because I stopped chanting my "written in stone" argument and started listening to the logic and reasoning of others. It turns out - They actually HAD some logic and reasoning and ultimately I had to agree with some of it. Not all of it, but enough that I had to become a gun rights proponent.

 

[suncitysteel]

"Social Media".... a contradiction in terms, if you really think about it.

 

[suncitysteel]

It's not just America, it's the liberal/socialist mindset of political correctness that's the problem



Canada criminalizes non-progressive thought

Do you think imposing so-called transgenderism on children as a sexual norm might be harmful to their moral development? Do you question the legitimacy of using made up so-called gender-neutral pronouns as replacements for the standard English words "he" and "she"?

If you answered yes, or even maybe, to either of those questions, then, as of today, you are in violation of Canada's Human Rights Code, and subject to fines, re-education, or – should you refuse comply and repent – prison time.

Canada's Senate has passed a "controversial" (read: fascistic) new law, Bill C-16, which adds "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the nation's hate crime laws – Canada being a world leader in legislating who should be hated and who shouldn't – thus effectively making it a crime for a business owner to "discriminate" on the basis of not wanting his male employee to wear a dress, or for a teacher not to use a nonexistent, politically correct pronoun whenever a student tells her to.

More generally, it makes a hate criminal of anyone who openly expresses a view not perfectly compliant with the zeitgeist on gender identity, transgenderism, or what have you. The debate is now, officially and legally, over.

In other words, a postmodern, nihilistic, neo-Marxist pseudo-theory of sexual identity and systemic oppression, dreamt up by some pretentious careerist professor of "queer studies" climbing out of the academic slime somewhere five years ago, has officially been declared the unassailable Absolute Truth by Justin Trudeau's government. Unassailable as in "alternative views will not be given a hearing." Unassailable as in "heretics will be burned."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/06/canada_criminalizes_nonprogressive_thought.html

Government mind-control under totalitarian rule... not just an idea for Hollywood writers anymore!

 

[SteelChip]

Along that same but different concept.....