Ever? No. I think they are capable. I just think that those in power know the weaknesses of western society: comfort, convenience, consumerism, and image.
I consider those some of the core pillar weaknesses of the current day western world.
Comfort: People don't care about anything or anyone unless their own comfort is disrupted. We saw this succinctly during the riots last summer, when apathy reigned supreme about the absolute destruction insecure assholes were causing across the country. A ton of people didn't give a shit — or even supported it — until it came to their neighborhood.
Convenience: We live in a world where everyone wants instant gratification. They don't want to wait for anything. Instead of doing their own reading or educating themselves by seeking out information, they want bite-sized pieces handed to them so they can feel like they have a grasp of the greater picture. Don't even need to mention all the other facets of life where people trade in their autonomy for convenience either. We've become absolutely lazy as a culture; no one wants to earn anything anymore.
Consumerism: This is one I speak about a lot anyway. I don't expect I need to go into much detail. Consumerism has completely rotted people's brains. It permeates every nook of our society and is like a pestiferous disease plaguing the western world; it's the real pandemic. People have traded in their intellectual individuality to match whatever the glowing screen they worship tells them they need to believe in order to fit in. Whether they admit it or not, they know that should they decide to voice disagreement they risk being ostracized for wrong-think. They either conform or risk being ruined. They've accepted their role as mindless ghouls, shuffling along and obeying whatever the people they've deemed their betters tell them. Somehow, these same people completely lack self-awareness to realize what's plainly obvious. Even their hate for their opposition is literally manufactured for them and has been for decades. Where else would anyone get the ideas they have about conservatives if not for media/entertainment/tech and such? Anyone who once participated in consumer culture who has separated themselves — or become aware — knows exactly what I'm talking about. It's a narrative they've been promulgating for decades now. Even if historically they were much more surreptitious in how they went about it than they are today. It's why most of their views on their opposition are nothing more than an aggregation of media/entertainment created stereotypes.
Image: The level of insecurity that's inherent in the common person in 2021 is staggering compared to what it was in the past. Why is that? The answer is simple: social media. No one wants to get dog-piled on and made to feel like a fool for saying or doing something dumb. In fact, that's exactly why we never see anyone willing to actually admit they are wrong. In any conversation you have with a majority of common consumers online right now, even if you provide undeniable proof of them being incorrect about something, they'll immediately switch the topic to something else, avoid admitting they were wrong, or — my personal favorite — default to weird ad hominem hate-fantasies that they begin having about you. It's become such a common issue that people have actually begun to meme it by saying, "You shouldn't try to debate with a leftist." Image is the name of the game. It's why they elevate mental health; why they want to feel special with gender identities; why they constantly preach didactic bullshit for virtue points, even as their actions are antithetical to any person who's actually "good;" why they always appeal to emotion to manipulate and gaslight people; why they're always praising each other for their victimhood; the list goes on and on. They spend an exorbitant amount of time on their presented image to feel "unique." They despise intellectual diversity and demand conformity, so they've compensated for that by dressing themselves up like retarded clowns to feel like they stand out amongst a sea of group-thinking retards. It's become all about externalizing what makes them special, because nothing about them stands out mentally and they have the intellectual depth of a puddle of piss in the desert.
It's not a life sentence. I know plenty of people who snap out of it and wonder how the hell they've been "blind" for so long; however, it's also not something that anyone can be forced to see. They have to find it on their own, because as mentioned, the modern human ego has a hard time coping with the possibility that they may be wrong in their views. When they find it on their own, it's still a sense of satisfaction and the only person they're proving both right and wrong is themselves.
That's how I see it at least.
Ever? No. I think they are capable. I just think that those in power know the weaknesses of western society: comfort, convenience, consumerism, and image.
I consider those some of the core pillar weaknesses of the current day western world.
It's not a life sentence. I know plenty of people who snap out of it and wonder how the hell they've been "blind" for so long; however, it's also not something that anyone can be forced to see. They have to find it on their own, because as mentioned, the modern human ego has a hard time coping with the possibility that they may be wrong in their views. When they find it on their own, it's still a sense of satisfaction and the only person they're proving both right and wrong is themselves.
That's how I see it at least.