American Unity

The Superbowl

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

Almost the entire nation watches the Super Bowl. It unifies us by creating moments and memories we all share while analyzing advertisements and eating chili.

In the old days, three or maybe four news networks told us basic facts about our world. As Americans, we had largely the same cultural experiences through mass media. That was also a communal experience - a common frame of reference for us to touch in relation to one another.

Of course, that allowed for certain things to be ignored for a long time: that smoking causes cancer, severe water pollution such that water actually caught on fire, our role in bloody South American regimes. But by and large, we all drank from the same cup of facts. It was a bit lockstep, but we referenced the same reality.

When the internet started, many electrons were killed telling us that the mass market we knew would be slivered and then some. They were right. What nobody thought was that our reality would…