on nazi salutes + 'protecting' your peace
now is not the time for conflict avoidance
Well, hello everyone.
This week’s edition is especially long, not because there’s been a lot of insanity taking place around the world, but because I felt compelled to deliver on a vast and balanced range of topics in light of that. Variety is the spice of life, as they say.
With the aim of levelling out the negative with the positive and insightful, we’ll be looking at the downsides of always ‘prioritising your peace,’ advice on how to enjoy things more (beyond just ‘bE MiNdFuL’), what free speech is and why a TikTok ban never threatened it, and – unfortunately – the weird, fascist extravaganza that was the Trump inauguration.
Can you believe there’s even more than that? Let’s not waste anymore time on an intro.
💬 Culture
How to like everything more – sasha’s newsletter (via substack)
In these times, we could all learn to savour the pleasure we get out of good things – and to relish in the goodness of ordinary things. As Sasha Chapin points out, common advice for finding more enjoyment in life often begins and ends at ‘be mindful!’ which feels annoyingly vague, if we’re honest. Sometimes I’m trying do the mindfulness thing harder, but it’s just makes me more stressed. In this essay, Chapin lists comprehensive methods for finding genuine joy, excitement, and happiness in life’s everyday moments. It’s a list I’ll be coming back to when I feel myself starting to fall into a rut.
“Protecting your peace” is killing your friendships – vox
The fact is: humans are social beings. We need each other, we need connection, and yes, we even need conflict with one another. More importantly, we need to know how to resolve conflict with one another. The internet mantra ‘protect your peace’ is deployed whenever someone is faced with behaviour cited on the ever-growing List of Red Flags™, which can range from ‘listening to Drake’ to ‘exhibiting genuinely manipulative and controlling behaviour’. But idolising friction-free relationships and becoming conflict-avoidant is denying us of opportunities to strengthen our connections. A better mantra would likely be: fight, forgive, flourish. Oh, I’m gooooood.
🐦 Tech
Tech movement wants to kick billionaires out of social media ownership – euronews
An ambitious group of tech entrepreneurs are crowdfunding 30 million USD with the aim of building a decentralised network of social media completely free of influence from tech billionaires. Named ‘Free Our Feeds’ the movement would utilise the AT Protocol, an open-source technology that lets social media users have control over where their data is located and hosted. The AT Protocol also lets users choose which algorithms are deployed on their feeds. It’s a huge sum of money to raise, but the movement’s GoFundMe page has already garnered $70,000 in donations.
The difference between TikTok and free expression – the atlantic
I feel like Allison Stanger summed up everything I’ve ever felt about TikTok when she wrote in her subheading: ‘The algorithmic manipulation of users’ attention is not the same thing as actual human speech.’ Social media platforms aren’t just communication channels; ‘they’re sophisticated artificial-intelligence systems that shape, amplify, and suppress human expression based on proprietary algorithms optimised for engagement and data collection.’ Sure, the TikTok ban lasted less than 24 hours, but it’s still worth asking: does this mechanism really support the free speech Americans so cherish?
🇺🇸 Politics
Neo-Nazis love the salutes Elon Musk made at the inauguration – wired
I didn’t have Elon Musk doing a double Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration on my bingo card for 2025, but in hindsight, maybe that was a bit naive of me. The US Anti-Defamation League weirdly tried to stifle public panic over the gesture with a tweet downplaying the whole thing and pissing AOC off in the process. Meanwhile, the leader of Blood Tribe, a neo-Nazi group, wrote on Telegram: “I don’t care if this was a mistake. I’m going to enjoy the tears over it.” The founder of Gab, a far-right social media platform, wrote: “Incredible things are happening already.” Which should tell you a lot about how Musk’s moves have been interpreted.
How much do I really need to know? – words from eliza (via substack)
Having voicenoted my friend about this very subject on my way into work this morning, this feels like a necessary share. Once we’ve learned the facts about an event, must we proceed to doomscroll the subject for hours, days, (and sometimes) weeks without getting any new information? Must we check every social platform for the input and reactions of others (celebrity statements, Instagram infographics, trending hashtags such as ‘#prayforXpeople/place/thing’)? Why do we insist on force-feeding ourselves the gritty details of terrible world events that we can do nothing about over and over every day until something worse comes around? At what point does being in a constant state of awareness push us into a state of apathetic numbness, desensitisation, and/or hopelessness?
📝 Media
Does anthropomorphism help humanise white men? – dazed digital
If you needed proof that society’s capacity to care about the woes of rich, white men is virtually non-existent as of late, consider that Robbie Williams opted to depict himself as a monkey in his new biopic. This reflects a sad reality: we’re more likely to feel sympathy for a CGI animal losing themselves to sex, drugs, and rock & roll than for a famous white guy going through the same. While our not-so-subtle lack of care paints a dark picture for the mental health of the average man, I can’t help but feel unmoved when considering how this applies to those that are famous. Have you seen what they’re up to lately? (See above: ‘Elon Musk nazi salute’. See also: the broligarchy).
Signature moves: are we losing the ability to write by hand? – guardian
Imagine my surprise when I found out the youngest NFL talents were autographing sports memorabilia in PRINT HANDWRITING because they don’t know how to write in cursive???? Some young people can’t even read cursive, because schools in America and Europe have completely dropped it from their curriculums. In general, adults have stopped practicing the art of handwriting simply because life doesn’t require us to. Most things are digital these days. This long read explores what is at stake if cursive becomes a dead method of writing.
🇵🇸 World
IDF raids Jenin refugee camp as Palestinians return to ‘ghost towns’ – al jazeera
A Gaza ceasefire was announced last week, but the violence is not over for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Eight people have been killed by Israeli forces in a refugee camp in Jenin. Dozens of others have been wounded. The Israeli army is preventing medical vehicles, including ambulances, from reaching those who are wounded by blocking and destroying roads as they pass through.
Are big cities overrated? – the economist
While big cities are the place to be if you want to get closer to seamless living – excellent transport and a wealth of job opportunities are just a couple of examples – new research suggests that big cities aren’t all they used to be when it comes to economic output. The study points out that innovation has become more difficult to achieve over time, with the easiest wins already taken. They predict big cities of the future will make less gains for countries than they used to, despite continuing to bring the best and the brightest together in one place.
💭 Recommendation
My recommendation this week? Get offline. Stop scrolling, give yourself a break from the 24 hour news cycle. Whatever you’re looking for isn’t on social media or in the news.
Instead, get stuck into something that challenges you (mentally or physically). At the very least, do something that activates the imaginative regions of your brain.
If you need a reading recommendation, I wrote a list of recommendations not too long ago. I also just finished Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar, which was simply excellent.
Below is a drawing by an unknown artist. It’s what you should look like for at least one evening this week!! It will be ME as soon as I hit publish on this newsletter!!!!
Thanks for reading and make sure to subscribe for the latest news on Gen Z and youth culture. Also, don’t forget to check out The Gen Zer for a weekly roundup of more trending insights, stories, and discussions.
Until next time,
How much do we really need to know - Say it louder for the people at the back
fight forgive and flourish is my new mantra