I’m posting this in Conservative because Discourse Magazine is produced by The Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a conservative think thank.
It’s always fascinating to me when reactionary institutions produce pieces like this.
In her new book “The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves,” Alexandra Hudson makes the case that these trends are real and disturbing. But she argues that addressing the merger of politics and entertainment and the politicization of the quotidian doesn’t require big, elite-driven social change. Rather, it begins with each of us—and daily decisions we make about how we relate to others.
The problem is the action, not the tool. Murder is bad. Suicide is bad. Accidents are bad. But they have different causes and different possible solutions. The tool used isn’t a cause, its just the tool.