Lawrence LaFerla Lawrence LaFerla

Weary of the social media treadmill?

It feels almost as if a low key cultural revolution is in the air this week. A consensus forming. I offer three examples below -- two discussions and one killer music video --that might reassure you that REALITY is making a comeback in 2024. Maybe it's time to drop out a little.

Larry sees hope in 2024.

Would you like to start making something of that vague sense that most of us have lately that we just can’t tolerate much more the ways that a tiny handful of billionaire social media owners have gradually fucked up our modern lives with their self-serving algorithms?

It feels almost as if a low key cultural revolution is in the air this week. A consensus forming. I offer three examples below - two discussions and one killer music video - that might reassure you that reality is making a comeback in 2024. Maybe it's time to drop out a little.

In three parts:

1 (of 3)

There’s finally this growing consensus that we've had enough of the social networks’ manipulations. We've had enough of their monopolies. We're reclaiming our creativity and our diversity.


2 (of 3)

Not only are our 15 minutes of fame fleeting. We play this futile game of trying to leave our marks online. Our legends will last a lunchtime. Listen to the episode, “The denial of death.”

It’s been 50 years since Ernest Becker’s breakthrough book The denial of death was first published, and its thesis has become more relevant than ever. Filmmaker Jef Sewell is the co-creator of a new documentary about Becker called All Illusions Must Be Broken. It features never-before-heard audio of the enigmatic anthropologist and puts his theories in a modern context. 

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Jef Sewell.

Find out more about the film at www.twobirdsfilm.com 



3 of 3

It must suck to be young these days: Taking a tearful selfie after having climbed a mountain of consumer crap. Be sure to choose CC > English if your Korean comprehension is lacking

Not all new music sucks. This music video echoes the Clash lyrics, “You got to drag yourself to work. Drug yourself to sleep. You’re dead from the neck up by the middle of the week!” And the Instagram ending is spot on, trying to look like a happy achiever.

I won’t attempt to tie the above three items together for readers. You’ll arrive at your own insights. I just want to note that it may all seem negative but I see this emerging consensus as absolutely positive. A turn toward reality.

Wake up. Drop out.

End

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