In Platos Republic Socrates notes that the enemy of democracy was populism with demagogues taking charge. The remedy, Socrates believed was to form a Republic where wise representativas could council and lead the masses from the inherit consequences of a "pure" democracy-chaos. But Socrates believed that demagogues would eventually win. Ultimately the greed and corruption would lead to a rebellion and a new government would form, and not necessarily a democratic one at first. Wash Rinse Repeat.
The Founders, particularly Jefferson, were deeply aware of Socrates' warning. But their answer wasn't rule by the wise—it was making the populace wise enough to govern themselves.
This is why Jefferson was such a proponent of public education. Not to create an enlightened elite to rule the masses, but to give ordinary people the tools to understand civics, evaluate arguments, resist demagogues. The remedy wasn't guardianship but universal capacity for rational discourse.
Jefferson understood that democracy requires an educated citizenry not because wisdom is rare, but because demagoguery works through manipulation of ignorance. Give people the tools to think clearly, to evaluate evidence, to distinguish argument from sophistry—and they can govern themselves.
But here's the thing: education assumes a shared epistemic environment where those tools work. Where facts can be established. Where logical argument carries weight. Where evidence matters.
Social media hasn't just created ignorant masses vulnerable to demagogues—it's destroyed the epistemic commons where education's tools function. You can teach people critical thinking, but if the information environment they inhabit is algorithmically designed to fragment reality and reward tribal signaling over rational discourse, those tools become useless.
This isn't the cycle Socrates described. It's the collapse of the conditions that made any version of self-governance—whether direct democracy or representative republic—possible at all.
Jefferson's remedy was right for his time. But he couldn't have anticipated a technology that systematically destroys the shared reality his remedy requires.
One of the reasons we have such siloed educations is the sustained attacks and deliberate denigration of public education and public educators in the U.S. We should all support both the education itself and the educators. Any who wish to keep their children from such should still have to support the public institutions and periodically show their children are meeting certain minimum standards expected of a modern education.
I would go further and suggest that a strong progressive taxation of all people and organizations that benefit from this country could make support of these educational needs to produce a common understanding of reality more likely.
A more rational view of public utilities might provide a better basis for regulation of the tools we all use, regardless of our philosophical/political bents and for a review of which, if any, should be privately controlled for profit.
I am very open-minded about what the solutions should be. There is a lot of important work being done in the digital democracy space (see: Audrey Tang). And I do think we are going to need to address the oligarchic elements of our society in some serious structural ways.
It’s not a coincidence the states with the most people following the demagogue are the ones where attacks on education have spiraled into pure cultural war. They’ve convinced huge swaths of people that knowledge is some short of liberal indoctrination
We need to cooperatively own anything that matters. And may need to disengage from existing structures that have given the allure of security and official authority for decades but may be worthless in future if not already. When the robber barons and the dictators spin off their wheels, we need to remember always how they despised and cheated us and set us up to be scapegoats at their will…..and not let anyone rise who lacks humanity and humility.
I tried to avoid social media and the internet culture until it became unavoidable. I can’t explain why except it felt like a road to nowhere for society. Never in my wildest dreams did I see collapse happen this fast. I fear the only solution is to somehow wrest control from the owners, but with the nonsense at CBS we can’t really end with the internet. Then we are getting into state run media and fuck that too. What a cluster we’ve wound ourselves into.
Centrism inevitably leads to false balance, and that is the case here. It is not true that the two sides of politics inhabit different realities. One side inhabits reality and (inevitably fallibly) tries to work out what is true. The other side creates a fantasy world which becomes more bizarre with every passing day. Social media responds by giving each side more of what they want, as do older forms of electronic and print media.
Not just social media. Turn off the TV. I did, after they brought us the Iraq War. Dump Twitter, FB and IG ( I dumped Twitter when Elon bought it, have never been on the others) Read.
This is an excellent foundation! Each of these types requires a cultural framework to guide and engage, with restraints on excess. We have allowed the more aggressive to seize power over others -- our fundamental civil failure. They have continued to find devious ways to pretend that their dominance is inevitable or seconded by nature (only half right!), so much that that their lies are part of our cognitive defaults, and our cognitive dissonance is called "contrary to nature".
In Platos Republic Socrates notes that the enemy of democracy was populism with demagogues taking charge. The remedy, Socrates believed was to form a Republic where wise representativas could council and lead the masses from the inherit consequences of a "pure" democracy-chaos. But Socrates believed that demagogues would eventually win. Ultimately the greed and corruption would lead to a rebellion and a new government would form, and not necessarily a democratic one at first. Wash Rinse Repeat.
The Founders, particularly Jefferson, were deeply aware of Socrates' warning. But their answer wasn't rule by the wise—it was making the populace wise enough to govern themselves.
This is why Jefferson was such a proponent of public education. Not to create an enlightened elite to rule the masses, but to give ordinary people the tools to understand civics, evaluate arguments, resist demagogues. The remedy wasn't guardianship but universal capacity for rational discourse.
Jefferson understood that democracy requires an educated citizenry not because wisdom is rare, but because demagoguery works through manipulation of ignorance. Give people the tools to think clearly, to evaluate evidence, to distinguish argument from sophistry—and they can govern themselves.
But here's the thing: education assumes a shared epistemic environment where those tools work. Where facts can be established. Where logical argument carries weight. Where evidence matters.
Social media hasn't just created ignorant masses vulnerable to demagogues—it's destroyed the epistemic commons where education's tools function. You can teach people critical thinking, but if the information environment they inhabit is algorithmically designed to fragment reality and reward tribal signaling over rational discourse, those tools become useless.
This isn't the cycle Socrates described. It's the collapse of the conditions that made any version of self-governance—whether direct democracy or representative republic—possible at all.
Jefferson's remedy was right for his time. But he couldn't have anticipated a technology that systematically destroys the shared reality his remedy requires.
Agree 💯. Social media, as currently programmed and manipulated by insidious tech barons, is a fatal antidemocratic virus. The cure is as yet unknown…
One of the reasons we have such siloed educations is the sustained attacks and deliberate denigration of public education and public educators in the U.S. We should all support both the education itself and the educators. Any who wish to keep their children from such should still have to support the public institutions and periodically show their children are meeting certain minimum standards expected of a modern education.
I would go further and suggest that a strong progressive taxation of all people and organizations that benefit from this country could make support of these educational needs to produce a common understanding of reality more likely.
A more rational view of public utilities might provide a better basis for regulation of the tools we all use, regardless of our philosophical/political bents and for a review of which, if any, should be privately controlled for profit.
I am very open-minded about what the solutions should be. There is a lot of important work being done in the digital democracy space (see: Audrey Tang). And I do think we are going to need to address the oligarchic elements of our society in some serious structural ways.
Thank you for the Audrey Tang suggestion. I will read Plurality, anyway. Do you suggest anything else by her?
It’s not a coincidence the states with the most people following the demagogue are the ones where attacks on education have spiraled into pure cultural war. They’ve convinced huge swaths of people that knowledge is some short of liberal indoctrination
We need to cooperatively own anything that matters. And may need to disengage from existing structures that have given the allure of security and official authority for decades but may be worthless in future if not already. When the robber barons and the dictators spin off their wheels, we need to remember always how they despised and cheated us and set us up to be scapegoats at their will…..and not let anyone rise who lacks humanity and humility.
I tried to avoid social media and the internet culture until it became unavoidable. I can’t explain why except it felt like a road to nowhere for society. Never in my wildest dreams did I see collapse happen this fast. I fear the only solution is to somehow wrest control from the owners, but with the nonsense at CBS we can’t really end with the internet. Then we are getting into state run media and fuck that too. What a cluster we’ve wound ourselves into.
Centrism inevitably leads to false balance, and that is the case here. It is not true that the two sides of politics inhabit different realities. One side inhabits reality and (inevitably fallibly) tries to work out what is true. The other side creates a fantasy world which becomes more bizarre with every passing day. Social media responds by giving each side more of what they want, as do older forms of electronic and print media.
let's meet in The Big Middle, where most Americans are, and come to consensus on practical solutions to our common problems
Not just social media. Turn off the TV. I did, after they brought us the Iraq War. Dump Twitter, FB and IG ( I dumped Twitter when Elon bought it, have never been on the others) Read.
This is an excellent foundation! Each of these types requires a cultural framework to guide and engage, with restraints on excess. We have allowed the more aggressive to seize power over others -- our fundamental civil failure. They have continued to find devious ways to pretend that their dominance is inevitable or seconded by nature (only half right!), so much that that their lies are part of our cognitive defaults, and our cognitive dissonance is called "contrary to nature".
Postmodernism on steroids, perhaps