By The Abbot
The mega power that is Meta has essentially controlled the public sphere for more than a decade. Facebook and then Instagram, initially mechanisms meant to connect people, has become the very force responsible for the rapid disintegration of our civilization. This is the fall of Rome but with uglier buildings and shittier roads. When I was young, the very idea of walking up to a stranger and screaming “You’re a fucking fat idiot!” at them would have either resulted in me getting a black eye or having the police called because someone thought I was having a psychotic episode. Yet I dare anyone to read the comments section on a mildly controversial post on Facebook or Instagram or even their own local newspaper’s comment section particularly this month as it’s Pride and millions of very insecure men and army of angry Marjorie Taylor Greene clones seem to have a lot to say. The comments on Pride can range from the typical personal attacks about the poster being a fag to bizarre tirades invoking scripture and Sodom. It is absolutely vicious.
This is not to say that I am immune from social media or a shield for the terrified people of reason chased into their dark holes of liberal iniquity by the righteous white men with small penises brigade. My point is- the universe likes conflict. All forces in it have an opposite. Buddhists really own the philosophy on this. Being and non-being. Right action and wrong action. The arising of this also means the arising of that. And for every negative force, a positive one arises. So this is why platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X, and the like are so very dangerous – since their inception and domination, nothing has arisen to effectively counter them. And Rome continues to burn.
Our minds remain occupied with things that provide no actual value. I am not saying if you follow an artist on Instagram that this is a futile pursuit. But liking someone’s post and visiting their gallery opening are two very different things. Somewhere since the 2000s, we have been taught by social media that our real community is fake and their virtual community is real. We lose focus of the people and experiences that really matter- our country, our community, our friends, our family, our self-enrichment, our education, our self-determination, our health, our creativity and our spirit. Instead, the great net of social media catches us and pulls us in and away from these, our most essential duties.
We have grown lazy and content like pigs at a trough. We now depend on others for our own identity. Our culture has made it increasingly difficult to foment our own ideas and our own intentions without the approval of our polarized culture. Our minds are no longer our own. The phenomenon known as “cancel culture” is the result of a society gone haywire. An America with amnesia.
Our political culture has ignored the fundamental and inalienable right to make up our own minds. My thoughts are my own and it is also my right to express them openly and without fear of punishment or recrimination. However, the world in which we live makes discussion impossible. We cannot speak frankly and honestly with each other without some level of fear of our own condemnation and ostracization. We have forgotten how to listen, to debate, to think, and to reason. This is due to a number of influences but the advent of the digital age, despite bringing with it great benefits and invaluable technology also brought with it increasingly complex, electronic distractions. We have forgotten how to simply be with one another. I mean REALLY BE. When was the last time any of you can remember having gone to dinner or out for cocktails or coffee and not had others in your group not present? They may be there in person, but in mind and spirit they are busy liking Henry Cavill’s new shirtless picture or a meme about chicken tacos. They are imbedded in their phones and have assimilated social media as their own clan leaving little room for real flesh and blood people. How do we find a way back? Is there a way to put the negative effects of technology and social media back in the box?
The great power that the electronic world and this unending universe of media has taken from us is our self-determination. So, in order to reclaim just a tiny bit of your soul, focus on activities that fly under the radar of the digital age. Try baking or drawing, or painting or knitting, or birding or reading. In the words of Cher – “Shut the fuck up and go do something.” A quiet or meaningful activity is sometimes frowned upon in our extroverted world. We see a billion articles suggesting ways that introverts can be more extroverted, but how often do we see anything begging the frequently too loud land of extroverts to…shut the fuck up. Quiet and gentleness are often considered strange. So perhaps one start of reclaiming our soul begins by making the simple act of baking a loaf of bread or enjoying the company of friends on occasion without a camera absolutely okay. Normalize the mundane.
We should now, more than ever, turn ourselves inward. We should find the simple pleasure of lighting candles, making a pot of tea, reading a good book, or taking delight in the scratchiness of a record. Our goal is to remain truly present. Not only to others but more importantly, to ourselves. If we could focus on one deliberate activity that involves no smart phone, that requires no streaming services, or that needs *gasp* no internet connection, what a start that would be. I promise, you can eat at a restaurant with your spouse, partner, cat or kid without having to let everyone else know about it. Focusing on others and your self-presence is an exceedingly wonderful gift you can give that will cost you nothing. You could live your life the way YOU believe it should be lived without worrying that some troll in Maine, or Alabama or North Dakota might disapprove of what you are doing. We could mind our own business together and perhaps, occasionally, enjoy one another’s company without a need for a single, solitary like.
