Word of the Year (So Far): Empörungsgesellschaft

by Vanderleun on January 8, 2018

Empörungsgesellschaft :

“The new E-word assumes the floundering of the Fourth Estate (or “legacy” journalism) before the invasive “fifth force” of social media. Crazy bloggers, twitterers, facebooklings, and so forth, are able to impinge upon the public consciousness in new and historically unprecedented ways. “Facts” are concocted to order, and subsequent “fact-checks” are concocted, too; opponents thus label each other constantly as liars. Discussion of every topic is politicized, in the lynch-mob spirit of shrieking moral outrage. The old-fashioned newsman’s criterion of “relevance” is replaced by cross-links to imaginary events and conspiracy theories. Attention is suddenly focused on the most unlikely details. The Internet itself is configured to encourage bizarre confirmation subcultures; users can funnel a round-the-clock supply of whatever “information” might please them. This provides them with a Wundpflaster against their aching kognitive Dissonanz. All public policy must be determined not only in live time, but in the full knowledge that at any moment, anyone can become the object of a Scheiße-Sturms (“shit storms”).”

— David Warren Essays in Idleness

Comments on this entry are closed.

bilejones January 8, 2018, 4:02 PM

The old media destroyed itself.

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ghostsniper January 8, 2018, 7:05 PM

“The old media destroyed itself.”
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And everything internet is becoming irrelevant.

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Green Eyed Jinn January 9, 2018, 8:29 AM

Awesome. I spent a fair few years living in Schwabia, and loved the honest directness of the people there.
I think I’ll coin a new insult based on this: Scheißesturmführer. Shit-storm dictator. It should be good for a few ProgLeftivist triggers.
Thanks.

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BillH January 9, 2018, 9:43 AM

You can have a lot of fun with German. My two best buddies during WW2 were 2d and 3d gen Germans, and knew enough German to be dangerous. They were always vying to see who could coin the most god-awful sounding and meaning German words about the Nazis. Some of those words would fill a paragraph.

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Casey Klahn January 9, 2018, 2:33 PM

Hi, BillH.

My dad, a WW II vet, also was a first gen German, and for his talent would be assigned watch over prisoners. One officer he had to seriously threaten because he was trying to surreptitiously break commo wire with his jack boot.

Listen to me! Telling a second hand war story to a veteran. Proof that I can go very low in character. Bill, I’d like to extend to you this invitation to tell more of your experiences here. About the war or anything else.

With respect,

KC

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BillH January 10, 2018, 8:40 AM

Didn’t mean to mislead, Casey. Those weren’t military buddies, we were just kids. I was 10 when Pearl was bombed, 14 when Japan surrendered. Missed Korea with a college deferment. I was career military, but my only “war” was Vietnam. My military experience, wartime and otherwise was mundane at best.

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