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A Review of “the Engineers of Chaos”, by Giuliano Da Empoli
How technology is weakening democracy.
This article is divided into several parts: The summary hosts The origin of political anger, the Italian story, the US story, the Hungarian story and the Conclusion. The second part is about the critic of the book.
The Context
In a book published in 2006, Peter Sloterdijk explains the origin of political anger. According to him, it originates from a feeling of injustice, exclusion, or discrimination spreading throughout society.
Historically, the Catholic Church had been the first institution to focus on these social groups and channeled their anger. Left-wing political parties took over amid the industrial revolution. In 2006, Sloterdijk declared that no institution was there to welcome and channel the rage of the people, which could have unforeseen consequences. In 2018, the author explained that populist parties had taken over the role.
If the rage felt by the populations is empirically justified (social-economic inequalities, among other things), it is also built on an unarguable fact.
Society has changed. A lot.
People have changed. The elites have changed.