Andrew Magers

Paranoia in a Postmodern Age of Collective Trauma

We’ve all been there. The guy you went to high school with, now gainfully employed at your local auto body shop, has graffitied a 500-word screed on your Facebook wall about the downfall of society and how, if we don’t “wake up!” the end is nigh. Everyone is entitled to moments of existential dread; the problem is, those who use social media to rage against the system typically have about as much perspective on the given matter as a fish to the ocean it swims in. For some ill-formed reason, this guy seems to actually believe he knows what he's talking about. But more to the point, a curious phenomenon has steadily developed since the postmodern era - regardless of training, race, SES, ethnicity, or class - paranoia seems to be gripping us all.