The monetization of our distraction

I don’t write much these days about the reasons I have unplugged myself from industrial civilization. This is in part because, deep down, we know them too well already, and it’s not for want of information that we continue down that path. I could name a few:

• the mass extinction of species
• resource wars
• cultural imperialism
• climate catastrophe
• widespread surveillance
• standardization
• the colonization of wilderness and indigenous lands
• the fragmentation of community
• the automation of millions of jobs with the inevitable inequality, unemployment, and purposelessness that ensue (providing fertile ground for demagogues to take control)
• the stark decline in mental health
• the rise in industrial-scale illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, depression, autoimmune diseases and obesity
• the tyranny of fast-paced, relentless communication
• and the addictiveness of the hollow excitement (films, pornography, TV series, new products, celebrity gossip, dating websites, 24/7 news) that exists behind our screens, the goal of which seems to be the monetization of our distraction

Mark Boyle on Not So Simple