10-06-2024, 12:27 PM
This post was last modified 10-06-2024, 12:29 PM by UltraBudgie.
Edit Reason: Fix video link?
The traditional Irish pub is becoming a thing of the past:
I see this as part of a larger trend of destroying the public square. Pubs, traditionally, are not just about alcohol, they're about meeting with your neighbors, making local friends, sitting elbow-to-elbow with new people, sharing the stories of our lives face-to-face. In a word, community.
That's changing. Avenues of social interaction that can not be measured and centrally influenced via smartphone technology are being systematically destroyed. Economically, socially, and by ever-heavier burdens of regulation and pressure.
Sure, people are drinking less alcohol. And with the price of a pint hitting $7-$10, who wouldn't? Or you can just drink cheaply, at home, alone with the black mirror. We didn't see liquor stores close during the pandemic, but pubs and churches sure shut down tight.
And this is happening socially, too. We're so divided that it's becoming harder and harder to talk to our neighbors. We've lost the ability to have differences in opinion that don't poison our ability to interact. The old day of "no politics or religion" at the lodge or pub are long gone. Now, I use the "G.R.A.P.E.S. of wrath" rule: No talk of Guns, Religion, Abortion, Politics, Economics, or Sex. People just can't handle it.
What's left? We talk about the weather and gardening. But no mention of FEMA responsiveness or how our food has become poison, of course. It's all very sad, we're getting what we deserve, I've become accelerationist about it -- "when you're going through hell, keep going". Solitude is really rather lovely, after all.
I see this as part of a larger trend of destroying the public square. Pubs, traditionally, are not just about alcohol, they're about meeting with your neighbors, making local friends, sitting elbow-to-elbow with new people, sharing the stories of our lives face-to-face. In a word, community.
That's changing. Avenues of social interaction that can not be measured and centrally influenced via smartphone technology are being systematically destroyed. Economically, socially, and by ever-heavier burdens of regulation and pressure.
Sure, people are drinking less alcohol. And with the price of a pint hitting $7-$10, who wouldn't? Or you can just drink cheaply, at home, alone with the black mirror. We didn't see liquor stores close during the pandemic, but pubs and churches sure shut down tight.
And this is happening socially, too. We're so divided that it's becoming harder and harder to talk to our neighbors. We've lost the ability to have differences in opinion that don't poison our ability to interact. The old day of "no politics or religion" at the lodge or pub are long gone. Now, I use the "G.R.A.P.E.S. of wrath" rule: No talk of Guns, Religion, Abortion, Politics, Economics, or Sex. People just can't handle it.
What's left? We talk about the weather and gardening. But no mention of FEMA responsiveness or how our food has become poison, of course. It's all very sad, we're getting what we deserve, I've become accelerationist about it -- "when you're going through hell, keep going". Solitude is really rather lovely, after all.
