Hype for the Future 55H: Privatization is a Crisis

Preamble

Numerous world powers are now scaling back major festivals and events under the guise of risk aversion. However, no significant evidence exists that crowds are any more dangerous today than they have been prior to being scaled back, especially as the culture has changed to a culture of perfectionism and liability concerns.

Perfectionism

Unfortunately, society has transitioned in perhaps the wrong direction, since under capitalism, perfectionism becomes more of a driving force than would otherwise be considered necessary. However, perfectionism is actually an unrealistic approach, and the concept is directly related to “stranger-danger” safety concerns. In the real world, strangers are more dangerous in some areas than in others, though paid opportunities of even lower non-zero payment levels can result in a greater sense of safety.

Hype for the Future 53C: Crowd Control is a Crisis?

Introduction

While crowd control can be beneficial in times of crisis, such as by way of physical distancing requirements naturally restricting the capacity of numerous types of events, crowd control without a health emergency may be quite a different story. When events are scaled back without a legitimate reason, such as the belief that large crowds are somehow harder to manage than in events past, the ultimate outcome is a lost tradition or the loss of related resources and values for the community. However, when events are not scaled back, the idea that crowds are more difficult to manage becomes an idea creating a significant amount of anxiety.

Cultural Change

Privatization is a crisis, and perhaps the most obvious proof that privatization and capitalism at large are crises is the arbitrary scaling back of large crowds and events. By scaling back crowds and events and blaming the marginalized or otherwise more vulnerable identities, political discourse can become more harmful, particularly for the LGBTQIA+ community and already vulnerable racialized and marginalized groups. Rather than identifying meeting people as a civic duty, the loneliness epidemic becomes more culturally enforced by privatizing the social network.