While fascists are demonstrating in the ports of Britain and spreading their venom online, fewer and fewer people have the ability to critique and analyze these movements. Imagine that on your TikTok feed, suddenly images of fascists recently displaying power in Dover and Portsmouth appear. These images, due to distractions and the rapid pace of information, quickly give way to other videos; and thus, many viewers will not even have the opportunity to think about what they have observed.
Worrying Statistics
According to a recent YouGov survey, 53% of people aged 18 to 24 had no opinion on armed demonstrations, and 43% of all age groups were either unaware of this story or did not follow it. These statistics indicate a serious crisis in understanding and analyzing social events. In a world where news is rapidly disseminated and people's attention is easily captured, how can we expect our youth to have the ability to distinguish reality from lies?
This situation clearly shows that our democracy is severely at risk. If people cannot properly understand what is happening, how can they participate in social and political changes? It seems we are living in an era where democracy is simply becoming a meaningless word.
Future Challenges
As media moves towards producing content that attracts attention more than educates, our democracy is becoming weaker day by day. Is it not time to carefully consider this dilemma and learn from it? If we, as a society, cannot prioritize reading and understanding, we should expect dire consequences that may endanger our democracy.
