If you are anything like me, you do your best to stay on top of the stream of information coming your way. Any time you think you’ve got a firm grasp on what is happening, another bit of information is added and what was previously objective reality slips through your fingers, morphs into something else, and leaves you feeling utterly powerless.
We're living in an era where the very concept of reality feels… liquefied. Truth is no longer a fixed mark, but a rapidly shifting best guess. This is Liquified Reality, and it's a key weapon in the authoritarian's arsenal.
Liquified Reality
Think of it this way: traditional authoritarian regimes aimed to control the narrative like a strict librarian, silencing dissenting voices and enforcing one official version of "truth." It was often brutal, but there was a twisted kind of stability to it. You knew where the lines were.
Today's authoritarianism, however, is more like a mischievous bartender. He’s less about enforcing one truth and more about mixing a dizzying cocktail of conflicting narratives, disinformation, and outright absurdity. The goal isn't merely to make you buy into the lie, but to make you doubt whether any truth is attainable at all.
Key ingredients of this "Liquified Reality" cocktail:
- A Chaos of Voices: Instead of a single source of propaganda, you're bombarded with a million different (often contradictory) stories, especially on social media.
- Weaponized Cynicism: The aim isn't just to deceive, but to make you throw your hands up and say, "They're all liars anyway."
- Constant Instability: The narrative shifts constantly. What was true yesterday is false today and true again tomorrow. Meanwhile, your off-balance and disoriented.
- Sophisticated Tools: This isn't just about old-school censorship. It's about using algorithms, bots, and online manipulation to distort perceptions.
Liquified Reality is no mere architect of our times. It's a dangerous tool that erodes trust, paralyzes action, and makes us vulnerable to authoritarian control. When we can't agree on basic facts, how can we possibly solve problems together?
In future installments, we'll dive into how this "Liquified Reality" is constructed, how you can recognize it, and what we need to do in order to resist it.
A Quick Note:
It seems there are multiple spellings of the word I’ve chosen to spell “Liquified” in this post. I have determined to use this particular alternative based on the advice in the linked post below and in consideration of the fact that I am not using the term in a scientific sense. Reasonable minds may differ on this delicate topic.
Liquify or Liquefy: Unraveling the Spelling Dilemma - 2025 by Travis Sharrow
Why you won't see one specific name on this website, despite the fact that he is the most responsible for our current situation.