In 2024, billions of people will vote under the shadow of misinformation

I am curious as to when people consider the golden age of truth ?

About ten years ago I sensed that the internet between unpoisoned social networks, Wikipedia, and other sources of genuine information hitting the masses before the MBAs became internet aware, was the golden age. People were overall generally more aware of things than they used to be.

But that has sharply regressed.

Coincidentally or not, it seemed to start the slide with the iPhone. Perhaps it was the true entry of the masses without the barrier of the desktop PC.

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No wonder their focus is solely on social media ignoring legacy media.

People will blame the technology for making it worse. But I think we have always had a problem and it's cultural and systemic, not technological.

It seems there are two extremes. Either you shut up or go to prison in some countries, or you say ANYTHING you want about the other political candidates in other countries, regardless of how misleading it is.

I think it comes from the core paradigm which is essentially a type of "controlled" civil war.

I'm not advocating for the opposite which is along the lines of authoritarianism, but it seems that "democracy" has taken this to an extreme level. It's as if all of the popularity contest stunts and vicious gossip from middle school have become enshrined in the political system.

I also have a hard time understanding how obviously declining senior citizens continue to be the best options for leadership.