Comment by jart
Comment by jart a day ago
Yeah it's similar to how Facebook is blamed for social malaise. Or how alcohol was blamed before that.
It's always more comfortable for people to blame the thing rather than the person.
Comment by jart a day ago
Yeah it's similar to how Facebook is blamed for social malaise. Or how alcohol was blamed before that.
It's always more comfortable for people to blame the thing rather than the person.
Ah yeah, fentanyl drug adulterers, what great benefactors of society.
Screaming "no one is evil, its just markets!" probably helps people who base their lives on exploiting the weak sleep better at night.
This is fine statement on its own but a gross reply to the parent.
I like the facebook comparison, but the difference is you don't have to use facebook to make money and survive. When the thing is a giant noisemaker crapping out trash that screws up everyone else's work (and thus their livelihood), it becomes a lot more than just some nuisance you can brush away.
Marketing has a powerful effect. Look at how the decrease in smoking coincided with the decrease in smoking advertisement (and now look at the uptick in vaping due to the marketing as a replacement for smoking).
Malaise exists at an individual level, but it doesn't transform into social malaise until someone comes in to exploit those people's addictions for profit.
More than one thing can be causing problems in a society, and enterprising humans of lesser scruples have a long history of preying on the weaknesses of others for profit.