In many ways it is the core crisis that causes most of our other ones, including lack of a reaction to climate change, lack of accountability for the wealthy, lack of proper social safety nets,... because divide and conquer tactics by bad actors work a lot better if you only need to divide those who do possess critical thinking skills and those who don't from each other.

[–] CitizenKong@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

"So long as they (the Proles) continued to work and breed, their other activities were without importance. Left to themselves, like cattle turned loose upon the plains of Argentina, they had reverted to a style of life that appeared to be natural to them, a sort of ancestral pattern...Heavy physical work, the care of home and children, petty quarrels with neighbors, films, football, beer and above all, gambling filled up the horizon of their minds. To keep them in control was not difficult."

George Orwell, 1984