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In this AEI Events Podcast, AEI’s Ryan Streeter welcomes Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) to deliver a keynote address on the Joint Economic Committee’s Social Capital Project, a new initiative to study the state of life and social relations in America. Sen. Lee emphasizes that notions of federalism and localized decision-making processes are crucial to restoring a sense of civic connectedness, unity, and faith in the American government.
In the following panel conversation, experts discuss the role a federalist landscape could serve in expanding innovation, adaptation, and competitiveness in policymaking. Panelists include Lee Drutman (New America), Yuval Levin (National Affairs), and Scott Winship (Joint Economic Committee). The discussion is moderated by Joel Kotkin (Center for Opportunity Urbanism).
This event took place on July 12, 2017.
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Published in: Culture
There is a lot involved in this Podcast, and I would encourage all Ricochet members to listen to it. It is truly one that is worth remembering and thinking about.
Senator Lee starts out by discussing Social Media, which is what I would like to confine my remarks to.
Facebook is great thing. I like going to it, every now and then, for seeing if there is someone I know who might have posted something worthwhile. I have a dear friend, who likes to post videos at times. They are a lot of fun. My condo association has a page, and members can post helpful messages there. It is a terrific tool, used properly, for relieving the stresses of the day, and for keeping in touch. Even Twitter can serve a useful purpose, when handled by those who desire to impart useful information.
However, as Sen. Lee points out, Facebook is not a community. A community is a place where people can actually get together and relate to one another personally. Facebook is a faux community, I would argue, that has driven us farther apart. Social Media convinces us that there is a connection, when, in reality, people will “Unfriend” you in a NY minute, if you write something that might offend someone who is living a cocoon-like existence. What can be a useful tool for many has instead been turned into a hammer, by some, for bludgeoning people into behaving or thinking in a certain way – or else they will incur the wrath of those who want to spread conformity to our blessed land. Many people have been turned off of social media as a result. And this is quite sad. The more we fail to recognize the destructive power of this latest gimmick-to-pretend-that-we-have-archived-cohesion, the more we are drifting apart.