I’ll be doing these streams every Friday at noon NYC time, broadcasting against Vampire Valley from within Vampire Valley. All live streams will be available to the public but most recorded streams will be available only to paying subscribers. Influencers are people. We need to eat, too.
For this week’s vamp valley stream, I’m joined by Daniel Bessner to talk about how our politics are in the grips of a powerful decadent rationalist illusion: the idea that information is power.
As Daniel points out, despite having all the information in the world whenever we want it, regular people have had no measurable effect on policy. In short: We know everything, but can’t change anything. It is a longstanding problem in nominally democratic US (and Europe) that has been massively exacerbated by internet technology. We’re wrapped up in the spectacle, confusing the consumption of nonstop political content with politics.
You could say that we’re whistleblowing on our own profession here, trying to make people understand that information is not a magic spell…it is not an incantation — just knowing things about the world won’t miraculously lead to change.
—Yasha
Reminder: If you donate $100 or more to my Vampire Valley doc, you will automatically get an annual sub. If you’re thinking of giving a larger tax-deductible donation, get in touch with us at vampires@yashalevine.com.
Some essays that inform our conversation:
