What is interesting is that, although it is framed as a war between the elites and Main Street, the Tea Party is actually really good for the elites.
Living as we do in the age of Facebook, we shouldn't be surprised that some countries are starting to imagine themselves more as social networks than as a physical place.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the shift in perception of identity and community in the digital age, where social networks may influence national identity.
In the digital era, exemplified by platforms like Facebook, the concept of community and identity is increasingly shaped by virtual connections rather than geographical boundaries. Freeland suggests that the way nations define themselves is evolving, with social networks becoming a central part of what it means to belong to a country, reflecting a more interconnected and virtual society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about the impact of social media on politics, you could say, 'As Chrystia Freeland notes, we're living in an age where nations might see themselves as social networks.'
More from Chrystia Freeland
All quotes βThe irony of the political rise of the plutocrats is that, like Venice's oligarchs, they threaten the system that created them.
All of us can agree that we want government to work as well as possible, and we should all applaud efforts to improve it. But there is no escaping the divisive and essential questions: What is the purpose of the state, and whom does it serve?
In a globalized economy, jobs no longer need a passport, but workers do.
This is the 21st-century paradox: Even as political democracy has become the intellectual default mode for much of the world, the private sector usually trumps the public one when it comes to accommodating consumer choice.
One of the most important political and economic facts of this young century is that capital has been slipping the traces of the nation-state. Business is global; government is national.
Similar quotes
Tomorrow there will be no division to Europe and Asia. These are old concepts that would remain only on maps. Everything will be united. Companies will be united. It is a process of structures growing due to the technological progress.
The technology keeps moving forward, which makes it easier for the artists to tell their stories and paint the pictures they want.
The Internet offers endangered languages a chance to have a public voice in a way that would not have been possible before.
When I was trying to popularize the concept of the Internet - ten or 15 years ago - I came up with this concept of "the 5 Cs." Services needed to have content, context, community, commerce, and connectivity. After that, when I was trying to think of what the key management principles were to build into the culture, I started talking about the Ps. The P's were things like passion, perseverance, perspective and people. I think the people aspect is really the most important one.
At our computer club, we talked about it being a revolution. Computers were going to belong to everyone, and give us power, and free us from the people who owned computers and all that stuff.
And every now and then people find the bugs, and they interpret those as cool failures in the Sims terms. For them it's like a treasure hunt, you know.