Alt Text: an image of Agent Smith from The Matrix with the following text superimposed, “1999 was described as being the peak of human civilization in ‘The Matrix’ and I laughed because that obviously wouldn’t age well and then the next 25 years happened and I realized that yeah maybe the machines had a point.”
The rise of authoritarianism and nationalism is happening in multiple countries like Hungary, Russia, China, and the U.S. Parties like AfD have grown in strength in the last 20 years, thanks in part to the ability of social media companies to prioritize “engagement” to enable them to make more money over societal health.