Harvey Johnson

“In this new world, it may be that big, ideological changes are not caused by bread shortages but by new kinds of disruptions. These new revolutions may not even look like the old revolutions at all. In a world where most political debate takes place online or on television, you don’t need to go out on the street and wave a banner to assert your allegiance. In order to manifest a sharp change in political affiliation, all you have to do is switch channels, turn to a different website every morning, or start following a different group of people on social media.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“There were different versions of this desire for chaos. A sudden drop in economic activity would be good for the nation’s soul, some came to believe. Everyone would buck up, tighten their belts, and work harder.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism

“People have always had different opinions. Now they have different facts.”
― 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. The algorithms radicalize those who use them too. If you click on perfectly legitimate anti-immigration YouTube sites, for example, these can lead you quickly, in just a few more clicks, to white nationalist sites and then to violent xenophobic sites. Because they have been designed to keep you online, the algorithms also favor emotions, especially anger and fear. And because the sites are addictive, they affect people in ways they don’t expect. Anger becomes a habit. Divisiveness becomes normal. Even if social media is not yet the primary news source for all Americans, it already helps shape how politicians and journalists interpret the world and portray it. Polarization has moved from the online world into reality.”
― Anne Applebaum, Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism