The currency of today’s oligarchs is attention. It is what makes them money and what gives them power. Admiration or outrage, it doesn’t matter: When we give them our attention, they define the terms of discussion.
Whether and how we give it to them, though, is our choice. It may not always feel that way—how could we not be mesmerized by the dismantling of democratic structures? But keep in mind: In Mary Harris Jones’ day, workers felt the same way about their labor. How could they possibly withhold it, when the bosses had all the power? Yet they found that doing it together flipped the script. It gave them power.
We also have the ability to withhold our attention—or rather, to choose whom we give it to.
Increasingly, people have begun doing that. Some are deleting Facebook or nuking their Twitter accounts. Some are staying on the platforms they enjoy, but changing the way they use them: Notifications turned off, phones put away at certain hours, whatever works.
A heavily modded Cat S22 Flip. Sadly, they don’t make them anymore, but there’s still some stock left you can get from Amazon or other resellers (though they’ve jacked the price since I got mine; it was $65 now it’s $100-something).
It’s technically a smartphone (albeit a low-end one) in a flip-phone form factor (runs Android 11 by default), but I’ve got most of the smart shit disabled and treat it like a dumb phone. It’s also rooted, de-bloated, and fully de-googled.