Reading takes a mental load, and when times are tough are lazy brains don’t want to work for entertainment. It needs to save that bandwidth for getting resources.
That’s why the article references the Great Depression and the reading resurgence that followed. Especially important because “common sense” would say that cheap and easily resellable media (free from libraries) would have been on of the few things people could afford during GD. With FDR providing a social safety net after, the people could “afford” to read for relaxation. It all comes back to Maslows hierarchy of need, if the basics aren’t met, nothing else matters, we regress.
Which is important because it’s easier to fix then people think. Gotta fulfill basic needs and suddenly everything gets better for everyone. Even just day to day life, dealing with stressed people sucks. If the majority of people have basic needs met, everything just moves smoothly.
I saw an article about chatbot employees starting to smoke to prove they have faith in it solving cancer…
And I think “mar lago face” is the same thing. They get these fucked up cosmetic surgeries to show they’re part of the tribe. It doesn’t matter that it looks like shit, it makes them permanently tied to that group of women.
Like a cult cutting off their left earlobe because the leader lost it in an accident. None of them think it’s better, but after the first couple do it to build loyalty, it stops being about the leader and becomes a symbol you’re part of the same group. So even a “non believer” would feel.pressure to do it from the group.