3. Gratuitous consumption

I read another book. I want to share some impressions and ideas crossing my mind while reading. Before that, let me just say that I like to read books of different kinds. I don't always read to learn or make myself better in some way. I like to discover, research and spend time in the fabulous world of words, languages and stories. Reading is also one of the healthy ways to spent the remaining life time. I wish I could read for a living! Speaking about healthy things...The fact that social media is not good for our brains, relationships and quality of life , that's probably no breaking news. But for some (human) reason we fail to act on our right to life. The book "Get Rich and Lie Trying: Ambition and Deceit in the New Influencer Economy" by Symeon Brown takes a good look at the influencer economy - no better way to call the claustrophobic social media enriched world we live in. By meeting and interviewing real people who have found a way to put bread on the table by mutilating their bodies (and souls), it draws attention to deadly serious facts that don't always make it on the (a)social platforms. The writer does so in a very matter of fact manner, which makes reading even more interesting. Please spare us the emotional deregulation and impulsiveness please! Let's look at the facts, I was thinking. And the facts presented by the author are devastating. While reading I was thinking that Humanity will probably realize the level of degradation and defeat I should say after the social media hallucination will be consumed. If ever. It will take an eternity. Nothing will ever be "the same" again. This is probably the thing which is hard to accept and the reason such books are being written. A healthy human will find incomprehensible the fact that we live in a world that renders self mutilation, self harming and moral degradation normal and acceptable. If the fittest survive, we probably have lost the fight. Are we fit for this world? We might drown in it while grinning hysterically for a selfie. The book does not offer solutions and that's the part I like. It depicts the grotesque in us. And I would argue - social media is our mirror. We must see. But can we?