I’ve definitely turned into the paranoid nutcase within my friend group in recent years, I hate that everything is “smart” nowadays requiring an app/internet connection & account, just to do basic things that didn’t require any of that before.
What’s some things currently making you ramble like an old man?
The fact that the entertainment industry has weaned entire generations with a way to access popular works, or events such as sports and concerts - and then started to privatize them, first with cable, then with subscription services, and each of them with higher costs and more draconian controls than the last. It feels as if the concept of “popular culture” was manufactured to hook us into paying larger amounts of money to the entertainment industry.
But… you have choice. Nobody needs to go to taylor Swifts concerts. Nobody needs to see the next Marvel movie. It’s a business.
As long as people only spend money on things that are worth more to them than said money, everyone is fine. If people can’t control their purchases, it isn’t the industry’s fault.
I’m fortunate to not enjoy popular culture in the first place.
It makes me angry when I see the sort of stuff that trends on popular services. It’s like the vast majority of humans have zero standards. We’re all just human centipadding, groveling to our Hollywood and RIAA overlords, worshipping celebrity idols. It’s really sad and pathetic.