> Since no one mentioned them here, I find it odd that you felt necessary to raise that point.

It is because the narrative (aptly called an 'iconography' if you're familiar with Neal Stephenson) of nationalism vs globalism is becoming increasingly emphasized in political discussions, with Brexit being the latest installment.

I accept that nativism isn't necessarily a synonym for nationalism but in my European context it really is. America (not assuming you're an American, this is an example) has a different context because of repeated migration waves but this is exceptional. My country for example was 98% native born until a decade or two ago. Contrary to popular perception in some circles, migration does not have much to do with the capacity of modern transport, especially for islands. It is politics.

> Every single communications form has enabled similar feedback loops for centuries; the printing press, cheaper paper to enable the penny-dreadfuls, Linotype to enable yellow journalism, radio, telegram, TV, telephone, record players, transoceanic cables, microwave and satellite repeaters, and now, yes, internet.

Here we disagree most severely.

There are two/three criteria depending on context.

The direction of feedback (uni or bi).
The strength of feedback (weak or strong).
The feedback relationship (one to one, one to many, many to one, many to many).

Almost all the things you mentioned there are uni-directional communications. If they are bi-directional, it is the weak forms or selective.

The Net is uniquely different to forms of communication that have preceded it. Its feedback loop has genuinely sped up human society in politics, culture, you name it.

> I see no meaning in that statement.

Come on. Their funding comes from people who noticed their videos online. Their gear, their money, even the fighters. The reality is turning off their Net access would absolutely cripple them. Yes, insurrections occur without Net access, but global recruitment drives and fund raising from huge numbers of people does not occur without the Net. Writing letters and making a phone call wouldn't exactly cut it.

> As a feminist, I am flummoxed by the statement "with feminism being abandoned". It seems to be ever more mainstream, with, e.g., recent declarations by Barack Obama and Patrick Stewart of being feminists. The early feminist fought for the right to vote. Are you seriously saying that there's a general retreat from woman suffrage? If not, which of the many aspects of feminism do you refer?

First, this is not a personal attack. I say so because this is an easily inflammatory topic.

Second, I believe that most social change is cyclical and not linear. Just as dresses get longer or shorter, values change over enough time in a mean reverting manner.

This is a description of what I see. This may be hard to believe depending on where you are and who you mix with, but social change in trajectory tends to be first noticed at the peripheral rather Hollywood or the Whitehouse.

Increasingly women and men are dropping the belief in equality between the sexes. Some elements, such as the right of women to work and vote are likely to be kept if not exercised, but huge swathes of feminist ideals are being dropped. I am not a women myself, but I have heard the ones around me talk about it, I doubt there's a woman in the neighborhood who would self describe as feminist. Some of them despise feminists and most of them think of feminism as an old fashioned idea with not much relevance to the world. I suppose they are technically counter-revolutionaries ;-)

This will be a rather esoteric example of the tide going out because they're altogether unusual (and fun!), but this couple do express similar sentiments to the ones I've heard more generally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqvc1Yx3U7s

> Finally there has always been "something fractal-like going on with the evolution of ideas", including, yet, long before the internet.

I'm sorry but you have perhaps misunderstood me, I didn't disagree with your observations. Not fracture. Fractal. I'm afraid it is an idea which is hard to articulate without sounding slightly mad and certainly sound contradictory so I shall nurture the slippery fellow to maturity for a different occasion.