Dave Shaw

“The jangling, dissonant sound of modern politics; the anger on cable television and the evening news; the fast pace of social media; the headlines that clash with one another when we scroll through them; the dullness, by contrast, of the bureaucracy and the courts; all of this”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“People click on the news they want to hear; Facebook, YouTube, and Google then show them more of whatever it is that they already favor, whether it is a certain brand of soap or a particular form of politics.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“This new information world also provides a new set of tools and tactics that another generation of clercs can use to reach people who want simple language, powerful symbols, clear identities. There is no need, nowadays, to form a street movement in order to appeal to those of an authoritarian predisposition. You can construct one in an office”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“On January 6, 2021, many Trump supporters observed the storming of the U.S. Capitol with enthusiasm. Trump supporters may explain that existing institutions are so dysfunctional that there is just no alternative to destroying them and building entirely new structures from scratch. But irrespective of whether this view is right or wrong, this is a quintessential revolutionary rather than conservative view.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI