Very important article on the adverse effects of the social isolation that the US tech industry is actively trying to propagate - which include promoting fascism not just via content, but via our physical modes of interaction...
"As Hannah Arendt shows in The Origins of Totalitarianism, in societies where social isolation has taken root, citizens are more likely to turn to authoritarian leaders, as these leaders offer an alternative to social atomization. Totalitarian ideology provides individuals with a fictional sense of belonging that replaces family, romantic ties or friendship."
Also relates to this important discussion here on mastodon
""The closure of 'tabacs' (small local café-bars in France) contributes to the progression of far-right voting... regardless of immigration, unemployment or other economic indicators...
"Symmetrically, the opening of tabacs is associated with a decline in far-right voting, suggesting that these dynamics are not irreversible.
"No other commercial closure produces a comparable effect. The specificity of tabacs lies in their function as a place of socialisation... The effects are three times stronger in rural communities, where these establishments often constitute the last place of sociability...
"When places of sociability disappear, politics becomes a face-off between atomised individuals and national media narratives."
I often joke that Brittany is the most left-wing region in France - and has the highest number of cafés and bars per capita... but perhaps the two aspects are more closely linked than I thought.
This article - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/27/progressive-paris-far-right-french-capital-food-culture-community-extremists - links the increasing number of car-free and non-commercial social spaces in Paris with its continuing extraordinary left voting record - and suggests that the well documented disappearance of such spaces in the US and elsewhere may be a factor in the rise of the extreme right.
@GeofCox this means we can actively fight fascism by building community, having fun, throwing parties for our neighbors and communities